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MOBILIST: Legal Services & Specialist Advise

Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

02 Mar 2026 at 15:57

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is managing a contract process titled "MOBILIST: Legal Services & Specialist Advise," aimed at providing specialist legal and commercial advisory services. The procurement is classified under foreign economic-aid-related services and located in London, UK. Currently, this process is in the award stage, with the contract being actively awarded to Dentons UK & Middle East LLP. The contract modification, dated 2nd March 2026, involves a financial uplift of £60,000 (ex VAT) to support ongoing commissioned work essential for the MOBILIST programme. Additional services have become necessary due to unforeseen expansions in the investment pipeline, justifying the modification under Regulation 72(1)(b) PCR 2015 without triggering a new procurement procedure.

This tender offers significant opportunities for businesses with expertise in complex legal advisory roles, particularly those skilled in cross-border capital markets transactions and due-diligence activities. Firms experienced in delivering legal opinions, regulatory compliance advice, and negotiation assistance in various jurisdictions might be particularly well-suited to compete. The procurement was conducted using a limited method, negotiated without the publication of a contract notice, due to the technical specifics of the services required. This amendment ensures business continuity until a comprehensive procurement is completed, preserving the programme's operational integrity and reducing duplication costs and risks associated with changing suppliers mid-process. Such engagements allow businesses to establish deep ties with governmental initiatives and enhance their footprint in delivering pivotal advisory support services.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

MOBILIST: Legal Services & Specialist Advise

Notice Description

MOBILIST: Legal & Specialist Advise provides specialist legal and commercial advisory services to support the FCDO's MOBILIST programme, which undertakes complex cross-border capital-markets transactions and due-diligence activities across multiple jurisdictions. The supplier delivers legal opinions, due-diligence reviews, regulatory compliance advice, SPV governance support, and negotiation assistance for brokerage, custody and investment agreements. These services ensure that MOBILIST transactions are structured lawfully, protect FCDO's financial and legal interests, and comply with UK procurement and regulatory requirements. The contract enables continuity of expert support for active and emerging investment workstreams and underpins the safe delivery of the programme's investment and market-building objectives.

Lot Information

Lot 1

The procurement concerns the provision of specialist legal and commercial advisory services to support the FCDO's MOBILIST programme. The original contract was awarded as a Direct Award under the CCS Legal Services Panel Framework RM6179, Lot 2 (Finance and Complex Legal Services), following receipt of a single bid in accordance with the framework rules. The contract is delivered on a time-and-materials basis using approved maximum chargeable rates. The nature of the services includes specialist legal advice, comprising legal due-diligence reviews, legal opinions on transaction structures and enforceability, regulatory and compliance advice, governance support for special-purpose vehicles, and negotiation of investment, brokerage, custody, and other commercial agreements in multiple jurisdictions. Additional information: This amendment is for ongoing finalisation of commissioned work only

Options: The contract included options for flexibility, with agreement from both FCDO and Supplier. These options allowed for an increase in the contract duration by up to 12 months based up an annual spend of PS250,783.40 (previously exercised). This modification is a value increase only and will raise the current contract value by PS60,000 (ex VAT), from PS752,350.20 (ex VAT) to PS812,350.20 (ex VAT).

Procurement Information

The Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) intends to award PS60,000 (ex VAT) financial uplift to MOBILIST: Legal Services & Specialist Advise contract with Dentons UK and Middle East LLP. This amendment is for the finalisation of ongoing commissioned work only. The award of this contract modification without prior publication is deemed lawful under Regulation 72(1)(b) PCR 2015. This provision permits contracting authorities to modify an existing contract without triggering a new procurement procedure where additional services have become necessary, the change could not have been foreseen by a diligent contracting authority, and changing supplier cannot be carried out for economic or technical reasons without causing significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs. In this case, the additional legal services required for the MOBILIST programme meet all the conditions set out in Article 72(1)(b).The additional services were not foreseeable at the time of contract award. The original framework call-off was based on a projected legal demand aligned to a modest and predictable investment pipeline. Following award, the MOBILIST pipeline expanded significantly beyond original expectations. This material increase in volume and complexity could not reasonably have been foreseen during the original procurement. Changing supplier would cause substantial duplication of costs and significant operational risk. The incumbent supplier has developed detailed programme-specific knowledge, is actively engaged in multiple ongoing transactions, and is currently completing due-diligence and advisory work already commissioned. Changing supplier mid-process would require extensive onboarding, re-performance of work, and reconstruction of legal and transactional history, resulting in significant duplication of cost and time. It would also expose the authority to operational, financial, and legal risks and a lapse in essential foreign-jurisdiction legal coverage. The modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract. The uplift relates solely to financial continuity for work already commissioned. It does not alter the scope, duration, deliverables, technical characteristics, KPIs, or personnel. No new activities beyond the original purpose, specialist legal advisory support for MOBILIST investment activities are being introduced. The value of the modification remains within the permitted threshold. The uplift of PS60,000 (ex VAT) represents less than 50% of the original contract value, in line with the quantitative limits permitted under Article 72(1)(b) and PCR Regulation 6 (valuation methodology). The modification is therefore compliant with proportionality and threshold requirements. A new procurement procedure is already planned for future requirements. The modification is strictly time-limited and serves only as a temporary bridge until a compliant procurement is completed. It therefore does not circumvent competition but preserves continuity until a new competitive or compliant route is executed.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-066008
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/018599-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Negotiated without publication of a contract notice
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

CPV Codes

75211200 - Foreign economic-aid-related services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£812,350 £500K-£1M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
2 Mar 20266 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1A 2AH
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Dentons UK and Middle East LLP

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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