HP Wins $1.4 Billion Services Deal From E.ON

In its first major outsourcing win under new CEO Leo Apotheker, Hewlett-Packard has secured a $1.4 billion contract to provide a range of tech services to E.ON IT—the technology operations arm of German utilities giant E.ON AG.

The five-year deal calls for HP to help E.ON IT manage its data center operations and workplace services for more than 80,000 E.ON employees. HP will also act as E.ON's primary systems integrator, coordinating work among the company's other tech contractors.

1,100 current E.ON IT workers will transfer to HP in April, 2011 as part of the arrangement.

"E.ON demands consistent, innovative, and agile IT services to operate in a competitive global industry," said E.ON CIO Edgar Aschenbrenner, in a statement.

"HP has proven experience in large-scale IT outsourcing and a global presence. We have asked them to apply their broad experience and innovation capabilities and to act as operational integrator toward our other key partners," said Aschenbrenner.

HP will also help E.ON build out a more flexible, optimized "Instant-On" infrastructure.

"Utility companies need to remain stable to deliver excellent client satisfaction while adapting quickly to changing regulations and energy sources in the coming years," said Jan Zadak, senior VP for Enterprise Business in HP's EMEA unit.

"HP's experience managing complex outsourcing engagements and leading the management of multi-supplier environments will enable E.ON to focus on delivering better business results and drive growth," said Zadak.

The deal marks a major victory for Apotheker, who replaced Mark Hurd as HP's CEO in September. It may indicate that the former SAP CEO, who is German, is not afraid to leverage his connections on the Continent to build up HP's European presence.

HP shares were up .12%, to $41.59, in morning trading on Wall Street.