Atos announced the end of discussions with EP Equity Investments (EPEI), the company of Czech businessman Daniel Kratynski, regarding the proposed sale, which was announced on 1er August 2023, from its Tech Foundation section, Wednesday 28 February. Both parties have “Discussions are terminated by mutual agreement as well as by sale option (contract)without any compensation from either side”, Atos said in a statement. The group clarifies that it will continue to operate Tech Foundations and Aviden as two separate activities with an integrated business strategy.
The failure of the talks is the first major setback in France for the billionaire, who made his fortune in the energy sector and has since shaken the French business elite with a series of company purchases in the country.
The abandonment of the project by some Atos shareholders and political leaders is also the latest example of setbacks for the France group amid major financial difficulties. To combat this, Atos has decided to split its historical IT consulting activities, which are grouped into the Tech Foundation division, and into Cyber Security.
Jean-Pierre Moustier, new president of Atos from October 2023
In early August, the group announced it had begun discussions with Daniel Kratinsky for a takeover of Tech Foundations. But negotiations ended after the appointment of a new Atos president to replace Bertrand Meunier in October 2023. Shortly after taking over, Jean-Pierre Mustier, the former chief executive of Italian bank UniCredit, sought to renegotiate the terms of the sale of the tech foundation to get more than 500 million euros in extra cash, according to a source close to the file. By Agence France-Presse.
The initial plan involved a takeover of the company by Daniel Kratinsky for 100 million euros in cash, a transfer of 1.9 billion euros of commitments to the balance sheet, and a 7.5% stake in the new company. Aviden formed with the rest of the activities in cyber security. .
Atos also planned to transfer tens of millions of euros in working capital to tech foundations, drawing anger from many minority shareholders and sharp criticism of the way the planned deal was presented to the markets.
The loss-making tech foundations employ 52,000 people and generate more than half of Atos’ turnover. The group, formerly led by Thierry Breton, is currently in talks with its banks to secure its refinancing and is planning an asset sale. In particular, it is discussing resuming its BDS (Big Data and Security) activity with Airbus.
