The master service agreement provides the framework for country specific agreements to be subsequently entered into by the local entities of each party. The master service agreement will become effective upon the signing of the first country specific agreement. The contract covers global data center centralization and server virtualization and is designed to transform Zurich's existing data center environment into a fully modernized, flexible and highly virtualized operation.

The potential total contract value is estimated to be up to $2.9 billion assuming the successful negotiation of all anticipated country specific agreements and the provision of the full scope of services in all the planned countries over the initial ten-and-a-half year term. Services are expected to commence under the master service agreement and one or more country specific agreements in the first half of 2010. All of the agreements are subject to regulatory and other approvals and notifications, including consultation of relevant workers councils.

Under the terms of the agreement, depending on the country specific agreements entered into, up to approximately 1,000 Zurich employees will potentially transition to CSC during the first half of 2010.

The relationship between Zurich and CSC began in July 2004 when the companies signed a seven-year, $1.3 billion applications outsourcing contract. In 2008, the scope of work expanded to include desktop services in Europe and North America.