The creditors and banks of the French IT giant in difficulty Atos have sent a joint refinancing offer to the group, weighed down by a significant debt and lacking new money to maintain its activity, announced on Saturday May 4 Agence France-Presse (AFP), a source close to the matter.
The company, which must be one of the technological pillars of the Paris Games this summer, announced on Monday that it needed 1.1 billion euros in liquidity for its activity in 2024-2025 and wanted to reduce by 3.2 billion of euros its gross debt, which is around 5 billion.
Atos had set a deadline of Friday May 3 for its creditors to submit refinancing proposals. “Banks and bondholders [créanciers] have submitted a joint offer »a source close to Atos bond debt holders announced to AFP, adding that they “supported the group and provided the necessary liquidity to it”.
A letter of intent sent by the State
According to the same source, this joint proposal “may be perfectly compatible” with the arrival of a reference investor, if he “is part of the creditors’ offer”. No other details about this offer have yet been revealed. Contacted by AFP, Atos did not immediately react.
The State expressed itself on the weekend of April 27-28 by sending a letter of intent to the group, in order to indicate its interest in its sovereign activities, an initiative that Atos said it welcomed with ” satisfaction “.
The activities targeted by the executive cover, among others, supercomputers used for nuclear deterrence and cybersecurity products. Bercy had also indicated that the government wanted to rally other French actors to its approach.
His call was heard by the French company ChapsVision, a specialist in data analysis, which said it was interested in some of the activities targeted by the State, in particular the MCS branch which includes, for example, the network security system communications aboard Dassault’s Rafale F4 aircraft. On Tuesday, Thales also suggested that the same activities could interest it.