End of suspense, Atos will choose its buyer Monday evening

The group’s board of directors meets to decide between the offers of Daniel Kretinsky and David Layani. Creditors still favor the offer from the founder of Onepoint. Atos’ management remains divided.

After a lot of waiting, Atos will decide on the choice of its buyer. According to several sources, the IT services group is meeting its board of directors this evening. The fifth in ten days. “It’s time to decide,” assures someone close to the case. A communication will take place Tuesday morning but the favorite remains David Layani.

“They are preparing for it internally,” tells us a good expert on the file.

At Atos, several executives are circulating that David Layani will be chosen. “I fear that it will be Layani because the creditors want the least costly solution for them,” even recognizes a protagonist close to rival Daniel Kretinsky. David Layani’s offer is less painful for them. He proposes to erase 2.8 billion euros of debt against 3.6 billion euros for his opponent while Atos’ total debt amounts to 4.9 billion euros.

All weekend, however, discussions continued between the Czech billionaire’s team and the group’s administrators.

“If Atos makes a rational choice, Kretinsky wins because his offer is the strongest, estimates a Source. We should not underestimate a last minute twist this evening.”

The choice in the hands of administrators

For two weeks, the man who bought Casino last year has tried to bring together more creditors, notably banks, around his project. It improved its financial offering twice, which led several banks to support it including, in addition to BNP Paribas, CIC and Crédit Agricole. But “perhaps not enough”, recognizes the leader of one of them, rather defeatist.

The Atos summit still seems shared. Management is rather favorable to the founder of Onepoint but president Jean-Pierre Mustier is described by several internal sources as favorable to Daniel Kretinsky.