Atos, in great difficulty, is starting to see partners flocking to buy parts of its business. After the State, it is Thales who could relieve the digital services giant.
A major movement has apparently just been launched with the announcement by Bruno Le Maire of the State’s intention to buy the sovereign activities of Atos. Because the objective of the State is less to bring these activities back into its fold than to prevent them from going abroad, which opens the door to certain national giants. A door that the Thales group seems ready to open!
Thales changed its mind on the Atos case
Several times in the past, when Atos was already withering away, Thales stated that it was not interested in buying the Big Data and Cybersecurity (BDS) branch, several divisions of which are considered sovereign by the State. At the time, for Thales, such an operation was not part of the rapid development of its civil cybersecurity branch.
But times have changed. Questioned by journalists, the financial director of Thales, Pascal Bouchiat, after recalling his refusal to buy the entire BDS branch, indicated that an activity within this branch could, however, interest him.
“ It is true that within BDS, which is essentially a cybersecurity services activity, there is another activity of much smaller size which is linked to defense and security » he explained, according to Reuters. An activity that could be bought.
Defense activities in the viewfinder
“ If at some point this particular defense and security business, which represents a minority of BDS, were put up for sale, we would not be opposed to considering it » the manager cautiously indicated. An operation which could have the support of the State, the State Participation Agency seeking partners in defense and aeronautics for this takeover.
Agreements would be all the easier to find as the State is a 25% shareholder in Thales, and holds 35% of the voting rights within the group. The company’s largest private shareholder, namely the Dassault Aviation group, would be another player that could potentially buy Atos’ activities.
Source : Reuters
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