2024-04-28 23:53:36
The State puts on its musketeer clothes to save Atos. While the IT group, heavily in debt to the tune of some 5 billion euros, has been in great difficulty for months and is looking for buyers, the Minister of the Economy announced this Sunday evening on LCI that he had filed in the weekend a letter of intent in order to resume part of the company’s activities. Atos is a French flagship little known to the general public but essential, which is notably behind the IT security of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
🗣️ Atos: “We have expressed our interest in acquiring all of Atos’ sovereign activities. The objective is that strategic activities remain under the exclusive control of France.”@BrunoLeMaireMinister of the Economy, guest of @DariusRochebin ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/4WuRxQNNdE
— LCI (@LCI) April 28, 2024
“There are in Atos a certain number of strategic activities for our sovereignty, for our defense, in terms of cybersecurity,” explained Bruno Le Maire before asserting: “they must remain under the exclusive control of France.” After having participated with the group’s creditors in a financing round worth 50 million euros out of a total of 450 million euros at the beginning of February, then having obtained a “golden share”, that is to say a preferred action, in the subsidiary Bull SA which manufactures supercomputers used in nuclear simulation, the government is therefore moving up a gear. Which is not a surprise: already in February, Bruno Le Maire had indicated that the State would use “all means at its disposal to preserve the strategic activities” of the company.
At the helm is the State Participation Agency (APE), which has targeted three activities. First, the “Advanced computing” division, specializing in supercomputers used in particular for nuclear deterrence and servers participating in Atos’ development in artificial intelligence and quantum technology. Then, “Mission critical systems”, that is to say the communication and computer systems used in particular by the army. And finally, the “cyber products” part. These entities represent less than 10% of the group’s scope, with a turnover of 900 million euros and some 4,000 employees, the vast majority based in France.
“I hope that the State is not alone”
“The objective is to be able to make an offer at the beginning of June”, we specify in the office of the Minister of the Economy. Until then, the APE will refine the valorization of these activities and focus on building a consortium. Because Bruno Le Maire warned: “I hope that the State is not alone”, citing the example of the shareholding of the defense ship manufacturer Naval Group or the nuclear reactor specialist TechnicAtome. Before drawing up a sketch of potential partners: “only French shareholders who work in the strategic areas of defense and aeronautics. »
“The State has no particular competence in this matter,” we decipher in Bruno Le Maire’s office. We create a community of interests. » Those close to the Minister of the Economy, however, refuse to specify whether or not the public authorities are intended to be in the majority within the consortium. The positioning of the State on these three strategic activities will in any case allow potential buyers to position themselves in the coming weeks on the other parts of a group which has 110,000 employees around the world, including 11,000 in the ‘Hexagon.
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