Computer Sciences Will Buy Nichols

Computer Sciences Corp. of El Segundo agreed to buy Nichols Research Corp. for about $396 million in stock, in what would be its biggest acquisition this year. Computer Services has also bought consulting and outsourcing firms. Nichols, based in Huntsville, Ala., supplies engineering and technical information and services to the Defense Department, health-care groups and other commercial organizations. It has about 3,000 employees in 30 U.S. locations and had revenue of $455 million for its fiscal year ended May 31. Computer Sciences will pay about 0.423 share, or about 6.08 million shares in total, for Nichols. Nichols shares closed up 19 cents at $25.69 on Nasdaq, and Computer Sciences stock rose 88 cents to close at $65.19 on the NYSE.