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Airbus ends discussions on a takeover of BDS
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Atos evaluates its options in line with the interests of the State
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Atos shares fell again on the stock market
(Adds press release from the Ministry of the Economy and Finance §12-13)
by Blandine Henault
Atos ATOS.PA announced on Tuesday the end of its discussions with Airbus AIR.PA for the sale of its BDS (Big Data & Security) activity, plunging the IT services group further into crisis.
“The company has been informed that discussions with Airbus regarding the sale of its BDS (Big Data & Security) business will not continue,” Atos said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Airbus confirmed it had made the decision to stop negotiations “after carefully considering all aspects of a potential acquisition.”
The two companies announced at the start of the year that they had opened discussions around a sale of the BDS activity, for which Airbus proposed an enterprise value between 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion euros.
The European aircraft manufacturer had already shown interest in taking a 29.9% stake in Atos’ digital and cybersecurity activities before abandoning the project a year ago.
Airbus did not explain the reason for abandoning the discussions but a source close to the matter indicated that the group was worried about the risks and turbulence surrounding Atos.
The new failure of discussions between Atos and Airbus echoes the abandoned plan to sell the Tech Foundations branch, bringing together IT consulting activities, to the EPEI group of Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky a few weeks ago.
It leaves Atos without a viable solution for its survival while the group is facing significant financial difficulties. At the end of 2023, its net debt stood at 2.23 billion euros and the group consumed 1.078 billion euros of cash last year.
After the announcement of the end of discussions between Atos and Airbus, Thales TCFP.PA reiterated that it was not interested in the BDS activity.
STATE PROMISES TO PROTECT STRATEGIC ACTIVITIES
Once a French technological flagship integrated into the CAC 40, and led by the current European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, Atos has grown through acquisitions but has made a series of strategic errors against a backdrop of unstable governance.
The fall of the group, which holds cybersecurity activities considered strategic, pushed the French government to react. At the beginning of February, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, assured that the State would not “let down” Atos.
Taking “note” on Tuesday of the announcement of the end of discussions between Atos and Airbus, Bercy declared in a press release that “all means” at Bruno Le Maire’s disposal will be used to “guarantee the protection of strategic activities” .
“Regarding Atos’ sensitive activities, in particular Big Data & Security, the State will build in the coming weeks a national solution for the protection of strategic activities,” said the Ministry of Economy and Finance. “All the interests of France will be preserved.”
Atos has been in discussions with its banks for several weeks to negotiate a refinancing but the asset sales constituted a key element of its recovery strategy, alongside a capital increase project which was also abandoned.
The group said on Tuesday that it was “actively evaluating strategic alternatives which will take into account the sovereignty imperatives of the French state”.
A source close to the matter clarified that BDS and Tech Foundations remained assets for sale.
“The failure of the sale process poses both a liquidity problem, which could accelerate the placement in safeguard procedure and increase potential dilution for current shareholders, and a debt restructuring problem, because the French State risks having a say on the profile of the future group of reference shareholders”, comments Nicolas David, analyst at Oddo BHF.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, Atos shares plunged on Tuesday
19,
16
% has
1.7
4
euro, while it was still hovering around 15 euros last July and more than 100 euros in 2017.
The publication of detailed annual results from Atos, which was scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed until the “near future”.
(Written by Blandine Hénault, with contributions from Diana Mandiá and Olivier Sorgho, edited by Kate Entringer and Jean Terzian)