This is the logical step to try to resolve the over-indebtedness that threatens it. Under ad hoc mandate, since February 5, Atos announced, Tuesday March 26, the opening of an amicable conciliation procedure in order to reduce the 4.6 billion euros of gross debt. The procedure is expected to last four months and could be extended by another month. Hélène Bourbouloux, the “star” judicial administrator, who worked on the most emblematic cases of recent years (Casino, Orpea, etc.), will lead the discussions, with the participation of the interministerial committee for industrial restructuring (CIRI), the service of the Ministry of the Economy responsible for the difficulties of the heaviest companies.
“This procedure aims to promote the emergence of a global agreement on the restructuring of financial debt with bank and bond creditors. The conciliation concerns only the financial debt and will not have an impact on the suppliers, employees, governance of the company or on other creditors or its subsidiaries.specifies Atos, in a press release.
“The parameters of the refinancing framework” will be presented during the week of April 8 with “the objective of obtaining a global agreement on the capital structure by July 2024”. Banks hold a little more than 2 billion euros in debt and bondholders, 2.4 billion euros. The challenge of conciliation will be, in particular, to align the point of view of these two classes of creditors to distribute the financial effort that will be required of them.
“No worries” for the Olympics
The IT group, whose net loss for 2023 reached 3.44 billion euros, assures that it has enough liquidity to last until this summer deadline, but it must move quickly. Due to these financial concerns, “certain decisions are delayed by our customers”, recognized Paul Saleh, the general director of Atos, during a conference organized on March 26, even if the group says it has only lost one of its largest contracts in recent months. As for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, for which Atos is the IT partner, ” no problem “, assured its general director. According to him, the testing phase went well and the “operations are very well advanced”.
David Layani, the founder of the digital consulting company Onepoint, who became, at the end of 2023, the largest shareholder of Atos, with 11.4% of the capital, did not wait for the opening of the conciliation to position himself. “Onepoint is ready to invest and organize the recapitalization of the company”launched Mr. Layani on March 24, in an interview with Figaro, without specifying the amount he would be prepared to commit personally, while his group is ten times smaller than Atos. The entrepreneur has already started discussing with bond debt holders in order to develop a plan with them combining debt reduction and an injection of new money. Contacts have been made with other potential investors.
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