French services bellwether Capgemini kicked off a promising 2008 by annoucing a six-year, £23 million IT outsourcing contract with UK psychometrics company SHL on 25th January. Since then, however, the deal has been placed in the familiar context of renewed rumours about a possible Indian takeover of strategic parts of the business by either Infosys or Wipro.

The SHL win sees Capgemini signing on to upgrade and maintain its new client's IT infrastructure of about 1,000 desktops worldwide, and moving three datacentres in Europe and America to a single location in Bristol. Support will be provided by Capgemini's service centres in Poland and India, and back-up from the company's Rotherham facility.

Andy Ross, CIO and CTO at SHL, said: "Working with Capgemini will help us meet the challenging targets we have for growth, service and cost effectiveness. Their solution gives the flexibility SHL needs at a time of significant change and will help us deliver the high service levels our customers expect from us. We look forward to an excellent long-term relationship with them.

Capgemini Director Paul Soutter added: "We have worked closely with SHL over the six months of the bid process and, as a result, we understand the IT needs of their business and their staff, including their many qualified psychologists. We are therefore confident that we can provide the consistent and predictable growth in IT capability that they will need as their business develops over the next six years."

Indeed, psychology may be the key to renewed speculation about a takeover, suggested Capgemini CEO Paul Hermelin: "The rumours are without foundation and have already been strongly denied," he said. "I ask myself if these practices are not above all designed to discourage our customers and potential partners at the moment when we are gaining market share and attracting new talent."

It has been reported in the Indian IT and business press that neither Infosys nor Wipro are keen on a total buyout because European laws would prevent a restructuring that favours the Indian offshore model. No further evidence has been provided of the veracity of takeover claims.