HP Inc, the largest successor company of Hewlett Packard, has launched a global law firm panel review.
HP Inc sent a 17-page request for proposal (RFP) document to law firms over the summer. The review of its legal advice follows the split of Hewlett Packard at the end of last year to form HP Inc, a hardware business covering personal computers and printers, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), a software business. Elite Wall Street firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz was legal adviser to HP on that split.
The new panel will run for two years from 1 November 2016, until 31 October 2018.
Law firms which receive over $5m a year from HP Inc in legal fees are required to provide lawyers on secondment. The IT company also requires that offices outside of the US must use local rates.
The RFP said: ‘Group Legal Affairs will select a small group of legal services providers that have invested in understanding the company’s people, products, history, organisational structure and goals. We will award all new work in a given category to vendors selected in that category.’
The successor companies, which are both going through transitional phases in a bid to reposition their businesses and become more profitable, are churning out large amounts of legal work. Yesterday (12 September), HP Inc sealed a $1bn deal for Samsung’s printing business, which will see some 6,000 employees and 6,500 printing patents transfer over.
Last week, HPE spun its non-core assets into a merger with UK tech company Micro Focus in a deal worth $8.8bn.
Other current in-house tenders include Merlin Entertainment, which has launched its first ever panel review, while the newly-formed West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) legal panel appointed Eversheds, DWF, Trowers & Hamlins and Manchester law firm Pannone Corporate as advisers last month.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
