IBM announced it has signed an agreement with Unilever to transform and manage strategic sourcing and procurement operations for the company's Latin American operations.

The five-year agreement is an expansion of an existing global agreement in which IBM manages Unilever's procurement operations in North America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Turkey and for Unilever Central Information Technology (IT).

As part of the agreement, IBM will help Unilever integrate and standardize its procurement practices throughout Latin America. As a result, IBM will consolidate spend management and help reduce overall procurement costs across Unilever's Latin American operations.

The procurement of many of the products and services that Unilever Latin America uses to run its business will be handled by IBM, including office equipment, travel, marketing and technical services.
IBM will be providing services to Unilever in Latin America from its global delivery center in Hortolandia, Brazil.