Computer Sciences Forms Team for IRS Pact

Computer Sciences Corp. said it has formed a team of information technology firms to pursue a contract worth about $3 billion to overhaul the Internal Revenue Service’s computer system. The team will be made up of 388,000 information technology professionals from Computer Sciences, International Business Machines Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Immobiliere du Casino and Unisys Corp.’s federal systems division. The formation of the team ends the uncertainty about which companies would band together to pursue the contract, company representative Pat Ways said. Lockheed Martin Corp. is heading a rival team that includes Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Andersen Consulting. Shares of El Segundo-based Computer Sciences fell 63 cents to close at $77.88. IBM’s shares fell 75 cents to close at $103.63, Northrop’s shares rose $1.31 to $117.38 and Unisys’ shares rose 50 cents to $10.81. All trade on the NYSE.