Lucozade Ribena Suntory (LRS) has appointed 10 firms to its first formal panel of legal advisers, with Eversheds Sutherland winning the primary provider role.

Addleshaw Goddard, Clifford Chance, DWF, Norton Rose Fulbright, Stephenson Harwood, TLT and Walker Morris have been appointed as specialist UK providers, while McCann Fitzgerald and Philip Lee have been appointed as specialist Irish providers.

LRS general counsel Mary Guest, who joined the company from Linklaters last year, led the panel process.

The company invited 23 firms to tender for a spot on the line-up, with LRS then inviting a group shortlisted firms to interviews held at Wembley Stadium. Following this, a further stage of meetings was held between the shortlisted firms and key LRS teams from the UK and Ireland. This formed the final panel selection, appointed with effect from 1 September.

Other firms previously used by the company include Foot Anstey, K&L Gates, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Mishcon de Reya. It is not known whether those firms were part of the panel appointment process.

CC took a lead role when GlaxoSmithKline sold its Ribena and Lucozade brands for £1.35bn to Japan's Suntory Beverage & Food in 2013.

Eversheds Sutherland's LRS relationship partner Julia Woodward-Carlton described the panel process as "challenging and thorough". She told Legal Week: "Whilst they were clearly asking questions around sector expertise, it was very focused on understanding the culture and values of the firm in order to get best fit for their company – that was loud and clear.

 "So when we went to Wembley, we wanted to make sure to bring along the right people. So our team matched the values and culture of theirs. We chose a team that was young and matched the make-up of their team with regards gender, location and level."

Guest added: "We wanted to run the panel selection a little differently to a traditional pitch. Whilst we of course wanted to appoint the firms with the best capabilities, we also wanted to ensure the firms selected would deliver innovative solutions, working collaboratively with the in-house team, to enable LRS to achieve its vision from the perspective of not only the legal team but also the wider business."