Dell's UK media planning and buying is currently being handled by MediaCom, but WPP plans to transfer the responsibilities for the computer giant's media to start-up agency Project Da Vinci's London office.
Buying responsibilities will lie with WPP's trading arm GroupM, while Project Da Vinci, which is expected to be formally named imminently, will run the strategy and planning aspects of the account.
Matt Rayner, Project Da Vinci's global chief media officer, told Media Week that London will soon become one of the first 13 cities around the world to have Project Da Vinci up and running.
"Da Vinci's UK office will be opening imminently," he said. "Media buying is with MediaCom right now, as is strategy, but we're working on the UK office."
Project Da Vinci has its headquarters in New York and current offices include Austin, Miami, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Beijing. More than 600 staff have been hired so far, with another 400 still being sought to complete the agency's workforce.
Last month, Torrence Boone, ex-president of Digitas Boston, was hired as chief executive of Project Da Vinci. Rayner, formerly managing partner at GroupM, was previously brought in to oversee Dell's global media operations.
WPP won the brief to run Dell's entire media and marketing services in December last year. Aegis agency Carat was the incumbent on the European media planning and buying account, while digital agency AKQA worked on Dell's digital strategy. Dell previously utilised more than 800 agencies around the world.
Dell predicts that global billings over the initial three-year deal will total $4.5bn (£2.3bn), with media spend across Europe likely to be around the £150m mark.
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