According to UK-based analystm, Ovum, thres's no guarantee that such a bid will be mounted. But in the wake of the highly-leveraged buyout of Sungard earlier this year (which also featured Texas Pacific and Blackstone), such rumours around major US SITS players are bound to continue.

At a current market capitalisation of $8.4bn, CSC is potentially good value, accoring to Ovu. The company's size, spread of large outsourcing contracts and relative lack of mainland European presence would mean that, as a complete entity, it's a relatively unappealing take-over candidate for another large SITS firm. Things could be different for private equity players, especially if, as the Wall Street Journal suggests, they are "exploring how to break up the business". CSC has some valuable and widely-used software IPR, notably in financial services.