Debevoise & Plimpton and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy have taken the lead roles on Verizon’s $49bn (£31bn) US bond issue, the largest corporate debt sale in history.

The bond sale comes as the US telecoms group raises capital to finance its acquisition of Vodafone’s 45% stake of Verizon Wireless, a $130bn (£84bn) deal which handed roles to a raft of firms including Slaughter and May and Macfarlanes.