CSC Names Government Sector CEO In Official Split Filing With The SEC

Lawrence B. Prior is expected to be named CEO of CSC's public sector business, which will take the name Computer Sciences Government Services following the company's upcoming split, according to an official Form 10 filing by the solution provider to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday.

Prior currently serves as executive vice president and general manager of CSC's North American public sector (NPS) segment and is expected to serve as the president and CEO of CSC's public sector business pending approval by the new company’s board of directors.

"I think [Prior] definitely is a good fit there," said Sebastian Lagana, senior analyst at Technology Business Research. "He's very familiar with the operations, and has been around for a while. I think really what it does is allow consistency in the NPS operations by remaining in-house, rather than finding external candidates. I think in terms of maintaining overall consistency, Prior brings as much stability as possible. In this size of an organizational split, that is very important. I certainly think CSC did make the right decision."

The Form 10 registration statement was filed to spin off CSC's public sector business. This was part of its plan revealed May 19 to split CSC into two publicly traded companies, one focused on its $8.1 billion commercial business and the other on its $4.1 billion U.S. government offerings. CSC is No. 5 on the CRN 2015 Solution Provider 500.

[Related: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: CEO Mike Lawrie Faces Challenge Of Transforming CSC]

Lagana said the SEC filing makes the split official.

"At this point I think everyone was ready for the news," he said. "They’ve been preparing for this for a while. They've put management talent in place for a while. … This is just finalizing the whole thing. … It doesn’t get any more official than this. There is no turning back at this point."

Falls Church, Va.-based CSC said Prior has more than 30 years of public and private sector experience, with an extensive background in intelligence, security, technology and defense initiatives.

"Today’s filing is an important step in the separation of CSC into two pure-play companies," said CSC CEO Mike Lawrie in a statement. "Each will be uniquely positioned for growth and leadership in their sectors, and to drive value for customers and shareholders. We have made solid progress in our process so far and remain on track to complete the transaction in the next several months."

CSC said the split is expected to be completed by October of this year.

PUBLISHED JULY 13, 2015