Simmons & Simmons has been beaten to the punch by the magic circle, with the news that one of its top clients, HMV, has instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to advise on the company’s £800m approach from buy-out house Permira.

The magic circle firm landed the high-profile instruction on Monday (30 January) after the UK music retail giant snubbed its line-up of regular advisers, among which Simmons was the lead counsel.