Morgan Stanley is working for RWE, the German utility, on its latest acquisition, making it the first time the US bank has provided RWE with mergers and acquisitions advice.

Morgan Stanley is working alongside Merrill Lynch on RWE's acquisition of American Water Works. A spokeswoman for Thames Water, which is owned by RWE, said that Morgan Stanley had worked for RWE on some small projects before, but not on any M&A deals.