Nomura has landed a role as one of the advisers to Chinese state-backed aluminium company Chinalco on its $19.5bn (€15.2bn) investment into Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto, in what is the Japanese bank's largest mandate since acquiring the European operations of Lehman Brothers last year.

Chinalco has agreed to pay $12.3bn for stakes in Rio's aluminium, copper and iron ore assets, and to buy $7.2bn worth of Rio's convertible bonds, which if converted would push its holding above 18%.