SAIC names companies to be created by split

Science Applications International Corp., the government health information technology contractor that announced last August a plan to split into two, has decided on names for its new businesses.

The two independent and publicly traded companies are expected to be created in the latter half of SAIC's fiscal year; the new fiscal year began Feb. 1. The technical services and enterprise IT business will continue to operate under the SAIC name, capitalizing on the “brand equity built over 44 years,” according to future SAIC CEO Tony Moraco.

Company leaders plan to call the other business—focusing on technology applications for national security, health and engineering—Leidos. Derived from the word kaleidoscope, the name is meant to suggest the idea of delivering solutions from different angles, as explained in the release.

“With the name Leidos, we signal that the company will deliver transforming technologies, analytics and cross-disciplinary insight for our customers to deliver real-world benefits at the speed the real world demands,” Stu Shea, chief operating officer of SAIC and future president and COO of Liedos, said in the release.

In its current structure, the McLean, Va.-based company includes nearly 40,000 employees serving clients in the U.S. Defense Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the intelligence community, other government agencies and commercial markets. Pro forma revenue for the future technical services portion of the business was estimated at $4 billion for the fiscal year just ended. Pro forma revenue for the same period for the solutions-focused side was estimated to be $7 billion.

The tax-free spinoff of shares is still subject to final approval by the board of directors, and the subsequent name change will be put to a stockholder vote.