French technology company Atos adopts one-point rescue plan

French technology company Atos, a partner of Olympiques and a major French defense contractor, said on Tuesday it had selected a takeover bid from a consortium led by its largest shareholder OnePoint.

Atos, which runs supercomputers for France's nuclear deterrent, has contracts with the French military and is an IT partner for the Paris Olympics, is struggling with debts of nearly 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion).

The group said its board chose a financial restructuring plan submitted by French businessman David Rayani's digital consultancy OnePoint and its partners Butler Industries and Econocom over a takeover bid led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

“Today marks an important milestone in our financial restructuring process,” Atos Chairman Jean-Pierre Mustier said in a statement.

“A solution has been found that meets the interests of our stakeholders, particularly our employees and customers,” he said.

The company said OnePoint's proposal “has the support of a significant number of Atos' creditors and gives it great confidence in reaching a final financial restructuring agreement.”

The company said it plans to work with the OnePoint Consortium to reach a final financial restructuring agreement to be implemented by July.

The Paris Olympics will open on July 26. Atos has stressed that it will not be impacted by financial difficulties during the Olympics, and the company plans to provide real-time results and manage more than 300,000 authentications during the games.

Government Prime Contractor

Atos is also a prime government contractor, and the French government said it would acquire the company's strategically important activities, including advanced computing, mission-critical systems and cybersecurity products.

Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said the move would prevent such strategic activities from “falling into the hands of foreign powers.”

The government also provided the company with a €50 million loan.

OnePoint's financial restructuring agreement includes injecting €250 million of new capital into Atos, providing €1.5 billion of new debt and converting €2.9 billion of debt into equity.

“The proposal submitted by the OnePoint Consortium is broadly consistent with the key financial parameters the company outlined in April,” Atos CEO Paul Sale said.

“This will fully fund the business and enable Atos to extend its leading market position and continue to deliver superior services and solutions to its customers,” he added.

© 2024 AFP