General Electric (GE) has unveiled its first ever legal panel in the UK following an innovative online auction tender that attracted most of the City’s top advisers.

Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Fresh-fields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May were among the biggest firms appointed last week. The 37-firm roster is set to share an estimated annual UK legal spend of £30m, part of the company’s $700m (£376m) global legal budget.