Nabarro, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Dickson Minto have taken front seat roles on deal which has seen Italian private equity firm Investindustrial acquire a 37.5% stake in iconic British car manufacturer Aston Martin.

Prestige Motor Holdings, which is backed by funds under advice from Investindustrial, saw off a bid from India's Mahindra & Mahindra to acquire the stake in the company, famously associated with superspy James Bond.

Nabarro acted for the seller, Kuwait's Investment Dar, with a team including corporate partner Alasdair Steele, banking partner Habib Ullah – the client relationship partner – and corporate partner Clare Grayston.

Steele said: "It was a complex transaction to work on as the competitive process, with the competing interest of Mahindra & Mahindra, brought things to a head in very short order. But our team worked efficiently to deliver a relatively complicated deal in a short amount of time."

Meanwhile, Freshfields represented Aston Martin Holdings with a team including corporate partners Chris Bown and Adrian Maguire.

Bown said: "Aston Martin is an interesting company because it is one of the last branded car manufacturers in the UK with that kind of name recognition and brand association.

"It is a unique property, which makes it an interesting asset to invest in. I think we will see more of this activity in the automotive sector because there is only so much debt that's available. In that sense it is a good old-fashioned development capital deal."

Prestige instructed Dickson Minto with a team comprising partners Martin McNair and Peter Uri.

Freshfields previously acted for Aston Martin on a £304m high yield bond offering last year, with a team led by Bown advising the car manufacturer on the bond and a new revolving credit facility.