(BFM Bourse) – The title of the French champion of digital services (re) jumps after Thales contacted investors for a takeover of the cybersecurity division of Atos, according to information from Reuters.
Still neglected since the start of the year, the Atos title regained a little height on Wednesday in response to information from Reuters according to which Thales would consider an offer on the branch dedicated to cybersecurity of the specialist in digital services. Shortly after 4:45 p.m., it indeed goes up 10.5% to 34.75 euros, the highest since January 10, when Atos warned that it would not reach its annual targets, however revised downwards. (-16.8% on this session).
The operation is estimated at around three billion dollars (2.7 billion euros) the sources told the economic and financial press agency. The French electronics group specializing in aerospace, defense and security has also reportedly already surveyed several private equity groups, including Bain Capital, to study the feasibility of a joint offer for Atos which would allow it to put the hands on its cybersecurity activity, Big Data & Cybersecurity (BDS). The latter had generated 1.23 billion euros in revenue in 2020 (+15.8% organically), i.e. 11% of Atos’ overall annual turnover – a share that has increased significantly since the other two divisions of the group (Infrastructure & Data Management and Business & Platform Solutions) had seen their revenues decline.
However, this takeover seems very difficult to achieve in the midst of the presidential campaign. “The French government would strongly oppose a breakup of Atos at this time,” said one of the sources. If the French State is not a shareholder of Atos, it closely monitors its situation as the group plays an important role in the strategy of national sovereignty, particularly in terms of cyber defense or quantum computing. Remember, however, that the State is a shareholder of Thales up to 25.67% (according to the latest score as of December 31), with 34.75% of the voting rights. Which could be an argument in favor of such an operation.
Thales said on Wednesday that it was “potentially interested in any cybersecurity asset that would be available for sale”, specifying that it was not in discussion with Atos on this subject.
Quentin Soubranne – ©2022 BFM Bourse
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