HP lands $675M outsourcing contract from Unilever

Hewlett-Packard's outsourcing business has scored an extended contract with Unilever worth US$675 million, HP said Wednesday.
The seven-year deal will see HP managing Unilever's IT infrastructure in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Turkey and the Middle East, handling day-to-day operations, implementing new applications, working with technology partners and managing third-party contracts, according to a news release.

About 250 Unliever workers will be transferred to HP under the contract's terms, the release said.

Neil Cameron, chief information officer for Unilever, said in a statement that the agreement is "a natural extension" of the companies' existing relationship. "The intention between both parties is to leverage HP's scale, expertise and industry leadership to ensure Unilever has access to world-class technology at substantially lower costs," the statement added.

Unilever, a manufacturer of consumer goods, has roughly 179,000 employees in nearly 100 countries. It logged €40 billion (US$58 billion) in sales during 2007, according to the release.