Burges Salmon has closed one of the largest transactions in its history, having advised the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on its £2.5bn Skynet 5 private finance initiative (PFI) to provide secure satellite communications for the armed forces.

The Bristol-based firm beat 10 rivals on the MoD’s panel of external advisers – including Herbert Smith, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Simmons & Simmons – to advise the MoD on the PFI contract with Paradigm Secure Communications.