The pressure had become unbearable. After months of protest and a free-falling stock price, Atos formalized, Monday October 16 in the morning, the resignation of its president, Bertrand Meunier, as The world revealed it the night before. He has held this position since November 2019. Mr. Meunier is replaced by Jean-Pierre Mustier, independent director of the IT group since May. The latter is supported by a vice-president, Laurent Collet-Billon, who also arrived in the spring. In a press release, Atos said it had conducted “a rigorous selection process” and examined “both internal and external applications” before making these choices. When these changes at the head of the company were announced, Atos shares soared by 21% on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The anger of minority shareholders against Mr. Meunier had been brewing for several months. In June, during the annual general meeting, the management company Sycomore AM tried to land him, judging “disastrous” the results of his three and a half years as president of the company. The resolution calling for his dismissal was rejected by 67%, but that meant that a third of shareholders already wanted him gone at the time.
The rebellion ended up exploding with the announcement, on 1er August, of the proposed sale to Daniel Kretinsky of the company’s outsourcing activities, brought together in the subsidiary Tech Foundations. Several minority shareholders considered this operation too favorable to the Czech businessman. Since then, the Atos share price has fallen by 48%, leaving the company worth just €544 million. To express their opposition, two shareholders, the Alix AM and CIAM funds, filed a complaint with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
Policy concerns
The Financial Markets Authority, alerted in particular by Udaac, an association of minority shareholders, also questioned the financial terms of the operation negotiated with Mr. Kretinsky. According to our information, the Stock Exchange policeman had recently sent a letter to the group’s management to ask them to clarify certain points. This is why detailed responses were provided by Atos on Monday, in a press release accompanying the announcement of Mr. Meunier’s resignation.
Politicians were also concerned about this proposed sale and the parallel entry of Mr. Kretinsky into the capital of Eviden, the other Atos subsidiary specializing in cybersecurity and supercomputers, very high capacity computers used particularly in the simulation of nuclear tests. The Czech businessman is ready to buy 7.5% of Eviden’s capital, which would make it the largest shareholder. Led by Republican senators, this group of elected officials does not rule out requesting the opening of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into this proposed sale and entry into capital.
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