New collapse of Atos after Onepoint's bailout offer is chosen

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) Atos continues its 'debacle' on the Paris Stock Exchange, after the board of directors preferred Onepoint's rescue bid to the one presented by Daniel Kretinsky. The French IT services group's share price is down 10%, pushing its year-to-date red to 85%.

As the analysts of Invest Securities comment, 'Onepoint was considered from the outset as the highest bidder (compared to Kretinsky, ed.) and managed to modify its initial offer to obtain the approval of most of the creditors, but this does not change anything to the fate of the current shareholders', among which, by the way, is Onepoint itself with 11% of the capital. Thecurrent shareholders will in fact be diluted to less than 0.1% of the share capital, as today's Atos press release points out. The proposal by Onepoint and allies Butler industries, Econocom and some of Atos's financial creditors envisages the conversion into equity of EUR 2.9 billion of existing debt (out of a total of EUR 4.8 billion at the end of 2023) and EUR 1.5 billion of new funds in the form of debt, including EUR 300 million in bank guarantees, Atos explained. EUR 250 million of new equity is also planned, including EUR 175 million from the Onepoint consortium, or 21% of the fully diluted capital, and EUR 75 million from creditors, or 9% of the equity. "The board of directors has concluded with the support of the Conciliator that the proposal of the Onepoint consortium aligns with the corporate interests of Atos, including its employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, shareholders and other stakeholders. The proposal is broadly consistent with the financial parameters outlined by the company, ensures a strong capital structure and, in particular, provides adequate financial liquidity to finance the business,' Atos points out, noting that Onepoint's proposal also has the support of a large number of Atos's financial creditors, which makes it easier to reach a final agreement on the rescue. The company 'will work with the Onepoint consortium to reach a final financial restructuring agreement, which will then be implemented through an accelerated procedure by July 2024', the statement indicates. For the chairman of the board of Atos, Jean Pierre Mustier, today's decision 'is a milestone in the restructuring process. A solution has emerged that provides a clear path to a final restructuring agreement'. The revised offer, submitted by billionaire ceo Daniel Kretinsky's Epei with the British fund Attestor, envisaged that creditors would be offered the possibility of obtaining up to 20% of Atos's capital, in the form of warrants and new financing of EUR 1.3 billion (from the EUR 1.2 billion originally proposed), with a reserved capital increase of EUR 550 million (from the EUR 500 million previously indicated). Long considered the 'flagship' of French information technology, Atos ended up in crisis mainly due to high indebtedness and some management choices that turned out to be wrong. The company controls some strategic activities for France in the fields of defence and nuclear IT. On 27 April, Atos received a non-binding letter of intent from the French State to purchase all of its Advanced Computing, Mission-Critical Systems and Cybersecurity assets, which account for around EUR 1 billion in revenues. Due diligence for a potential acquisition is still ongoing on these assets, Atos indicated on 3 June.