UBS has won its first big mergers and acquisitions mandate as co-adviser to Saint-Gobain, the French glass and building materials maker which today launched a hostile all-cash £3.6bn (€5.2bn) offer for UK plasterboard maker BPB.

UBS is providing M&A advice and financing alongside BNP Paribas. It is thought that BNP Paribas is providing more than half of the finance.