Public Procurement

The quality of public services is increasingly determined by skilled public procurement management of real estate developments, joint ventures, restructuring or sale programmes. As a contracting authority or a bidder in local, EU and international procurement, you can benefit from the CMS Public Procurement team’s extensive experience on both sides of the public procurement process.

With over 150 public procurement specialists in 50 cities worldwide, CMS has outstanding reach and capacity. We can support your response to public tender procedures in numerous countries simultaneously. Additionally, our specialists have longstanding sector expertise across core industries including infrastructure, life sciences/healthcare, transport, technology, media & communications (TMC) and energy. We also provide support before authorities, tribunals and courts across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. We can guide you through complex infrastructure, transport and IT projects, not only in the public sector but also for utilities such as electricity, gas and airports. We can also represent you in procurement-related disputes and litigation.

We act for many major contracting authorities and international businesses that compete for contracts and concessions. Because we understand procurement from both sides, at the highest level, we can help you appreciate the other side’s concerns, anticipate problems, mitigate risks and, ultimately, secure a better outcome. You can rely on us to provide commercially focused, practical advice, guiding you through the process, managing risks, identifying solutions and challenging and defending award procedures.

Our services for contracting authorities

• Pre-procurement market engagement
• Choice of procedure and strategic procurement planning
• Project management
• Drafting of tender notices and tender documents
• Responding to bidders’ questions and complaints
• Tender evaluation
• Preparing and conducting bidder discussions and negotiations
• Debriefing unsuccessful bidders
• Contract award

Our services for bidders

• Engaging public sector bodies
• Developing bidding strategies for contract opportunities
• Forming bidding consortia
• Addressing incumbent contractor advantages and ensuring a level playing field
• Dealing with unfavourable contract specifications
• Support in complex procurement procedures (e.g. public-private partnerships (PPP), IT)
• Drafting and optimising submission documents
• Support for notification duties, as well as content and timing of procedural complaints
• Ensuring proper debrief information is received if bid is unsuccessful

Public procurement offers excellent mechanisms and opportunities. Whether you are a contracting authority or tenderer, to get the best out of procurement, you should work with advisers who have a wealth of experience in – and understanding of – the sector and jurisdiction in which you operate. At CMS, we have a proven track record of successful procurement projects, and advise on everything from analysing procurement process structure, through the bidding strategy, up to project implementation.