Crown Commercial Service as the contracting authority is putting in place a pan government Framework Agreement for use by UK public sector bodies identified at VI.3 (and any future successors to these organisations), which include Central Government Departments and their Arm's Length Bodies and Agencies, Non Departmental Public Bodies, NHS bodies and Local Authorities.

The above contracting authority(s) have a need for Corporate Finance Services (CFS).

The Services covered by this Procurement have been sub-divided into 7 Lots, namely:

Lot 1: General corporate finance advice, separate to any transaction execution.

Lot 2: Advice on and execution of specific corporate transactions (typically referred to as mergers and acquisitions, or M&A).

Lot 3: Advice on and execution of specific equity or equity related capital markets transactions (typically referred to as equity capital markets, or ECM).

Lot 4: Advice on and execution of specific debt capital markets transactions (typically referred to as debt capital markets, or DCM).

Lot 5: Specialist retail offer advice and execution in relation to specific capital markets transactions.

Lot 6: Specialist corporate finance advice in relation to the infrastructure sector.

Lot 7: Specialist corporate finance advice in relation to portfolios of, or discrete, financial assets.

These Lots represent the various roles that Contracting Bodies may choose to appoint one or more Supplier to fulfill their requirements, at call-off stage under the CFS Framework. Each Lot sets out the scope of work that a Supplier may be required to undertake under each lot, split between the mandatory services that a Supplier is expected to be able to undertake.

Potential Providers have the opportunity to bid for all or any combination of the 7 Lots. It is recognised that some Potential Providers may wish to provide services off a single Lot while some may wish to provide services from multiple lots. All Lots will be considered separately and there will be no distinction made between Potential Providers that can cover multiple lots compared to those that can cover a single Lot. The duration referred to in section II.1.4 is 3 years plus the option to extend up to a maximum of 1 year in total from the expiry of the Initial Framework Period by giving the Supplier no less than 3 Months' written notice.