France's Natexis Banques Populaires has won its first mergers and acquisitions mandate from Alstom, advising the engineering giant on the sale of its unprofitable shipbuilding business to Norway's Aker Yards.

The transaction is also a first for Société Générale, which is sole adviser to Aker Yards. replacing Enskilda, the Swedish investment bank which has been the only adviser to the Norwegian firm on recent deals, according to Thomson Financial.