The strength of Merrill Lynch's European equity capital markets division has helped the bank win a new joint advisory mandate for Schneider Electric on its forced split with Legrand.

Schneider has appointed Merrill's French mergers and acquisitions team to work alongside Rothschild, its traditional adviser, on the sale of Legrand. Schneider, France's largest electrical goods maker, took control of Legrand, its smaller French counterpart, last September in a share-for-share merger that was originally announced in January, only to see the deal vetoed by the European Commission in October on anti-trust grounds after the deal had completed.