Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons have picked up lead advisory roles on the high-profile restructuring of entertainment retailer HMV.

The deal, which sees Simmons advising HMV and Linklaters advising the company’s banks, including Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group, is one of a handful of high-profile restructuring mandates so far this year, as advisers concede that the flood of administrations predicted at the height of the financial crisis has yet to materialise.