Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May are both advising on the restructuring of Royal Mail as the Government prepares to take on the postal operator’s multibillion-pound pension deficit.

Freshfields is advising the Government on the transaction, which will see £37.5bn of Royal Mail’s legacy pensions liabilities transferring to the state, including a deficit of around £9.5bn, as well as the restructuring of the company’s balance sheet to allow for privatisation.