The senatorial information mission responsible for analyzing the difficulties of Atos judges the intervention of the State “late and insufficient”and formulates eleven proposals to save the French IT giant, in his report presented on Tuesday April 30 to the Senate.
The rapporteurs say “regret a partial, fragmented and late mobilization of State services with regard to a strategic enterprise for our national sovereignty and defense”while Bercy expressed its interest on Sunday in acquiring sovereign activities of the group.
“We have taken all our responsibilities towards Atos”replied the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, questioned in the Senate by Thierry Meignen (Les Républicains), one of the rapporteurs of this information mission. “Just because we do things discreetly doesn’t mean we don’t do them effectively”he continued, adding that his services had been working on this file for months.
“The majority of stakeholders would have preferred proactive and stabilizing intervention from the State from the second half of 2022”insist the rapporteurs in a press release.
Furthermore, the acquisition by the State of the strategic activities of Atos “will not resolve the question of the future of the group”in particular that of the Tech Foundations branch, which brings together historical outsourcing activities, some of which are also of a sovereign nature, according to the rapporteurs.
“Sensitive contracts for our data and public services are attached to Tech Foundations, whose watertightness with Eviden has still not been clearly demonstrated”, they emphasize. Eviden brings together the cybersecurity, digital and BDS activities (the big data and security branch) of Atos.
Thales interested in defense and security activities
They also express their fear of “cut sale” of a company which would have lost its main attractions, such as its supercomputers used for nuclear deterrence or its cybersecurity products.
Among their recommendations, the senators recommend the entry of the State into the capital of Atos through an equity investment to guarantee it a place on the board of directors and that it can supervise strategic activities while ensuring the viability of the group as a whole. They also recommend that Bpifrance take a majority stake in BDS.
The senators hope that, in the event of asset transfers, “French industrial buyers are favored” For ” preserve [la] competitiveness [du pays] ».
To explain the delicate financial position of the group, the fact-finding mission highlights certain decisions taken when Thierry Breton was president, between 2008 and 2019, notably questioning the “frequency and number of acquisitions, their purchase price (…) or even the speed and execution of restructurings” during this period.
They also believe that Atos would have taken “certain technological shifts too late” and that the instability at its head, since 2019, has led “to short-term financial logic”.
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Launched in February, the information mission of the Senate’s economic affairs and foreign affairs committees interviewed 84 people over nearly three months, including the president of Atos, Jean-Pierre Mustier, and its general director, Paul Saleh, on April 10.
The French IT giant has given its creditors until Friday to make refinancing proposals. Thales would be ready to consider a buyout of certain activities in defense and security, if they were for sale, its financial director, Pascal Bouchiat, announced on Tuesday.
The company indicated on Monday that it now needs 1.1 billion euros in liquidity for its activity in 2024-2025 and wants to reduce its gross debt by 3.2 billion euros, which is around 5 billion.