Atos negotiates with Airbus to divest its cybersecurity division
On the other hand, the negotiations with Czech billionaire Kretinsky, opposed by some shareholders and French politicians alike, are on the wane
2' min read
2' min read
The French IT group Atos chaired by Jeanne Pierre Mustier (former CEO of Unicredit) and led by Yves Bernaert, seeing no certainty in the negotiations with Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky for the sale of Tech Foundation (enterprise value around 2 billion) plans to sell other assets including the BDS (Big Data & Security) business. And apparently negotiations are now hot with Airbus.
In a note with which Atos updates the market, it is stated that a due diligence phase has been opened with Airbus for a potential sale of the entire BDS perimeter.
In contrast, the transaction with Kretinsky is opposed both by some shareholders, notably Onepoint, and by French politicians. "During the first quarter of 2024, Atos will assess whether these measures will be sufficient to cover financing maturities and long-term cash requirements." Meanwhile, other directors are leaving the company. Valérie Bernis, Aminata Niane, Vernon Sankey and René Proglio have resigned and the board has appointed Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles and Jean-Jacques Morin as their replacements. The company 'intends to engage further with its reference shareholder Onepoint (which rose to 11.4 per cent in mid-December, ed.) to discuss its governance requests,' the note states.
Atos is in a major debt phase. The French company has short-term maturities and must find ways to repay or refinance its financial debts, 'by obtaining new bank financing, accessing capital markets or implementing a major asset disposal programme, and continuing with specific actions to optimise working capital,' the company explains.
In the exclusive negotiations with Epei (Kretinsky) for the sale of Tech Foundations the crux is the price to be paid, but also the share of debt that would be transferred. A capital increase was planned for Eviden, the subsidiary dedicated to digital, cloud, big data and security, but 'changing market conditions and reactions require a reduction in the size initially planned'. In view of the many uncertainties, 'the company is considering the sale of other assets, well in excess of the EUR 400 million mentioned in July, in order to meet the financing deadlines,' says Atos, which informs that it has received two letters indicating a non-binding interest in its BDS assets, one of which concerns only part of the BDS perimeter. A due diligence with Airbus, which is targeting the entire perimeter of BDS and values it at between EUR 1.5 and 1.8 billion, has been chosen. Furthermore, the company does not exclude the sale of further assets, especially if the transaction with Epei does not go ahead.
