Industrial sovereignty
Two days after Onepoint’s victory for the takeover of the group, Atos indicated this Friday June 14 that the State had made an offer to buy certain activities, in particular the supercomputers used for nuclear deterrence.
Two days ago, the Atos board of directors chose the takeover offer from a consortium led by Onepoint to save itself. This Friday, June 14, the French IT group indicates in a press release an offer from the State of 700 million euros to purchase its activities deemed strategic and sensitive, in particular supercomputers used for nuclear deterrence. This offer aims to prevent these activities, which affect the sovereignty of France, from falling into the hands of foreign actors.
The State’s proposal, formulated in a “non-binding confirmatory offer letter”, concerned “the potential acquisition of 100% of the Advanced Computing, Mission-Critical Systems and Cybersecurity Products activities of the BDS (Big Data & Cybersecurity) division” of Atos, specifies the group. These activities include supercomputers used for nuclear deterrence, contracts with the French army and cybersecurity products.
“No certainty”
“This non-binding confirmatory offer concerns a global enterprise value of 700 million euros,” continued Atos. The state’s offer was expected by mid-June. The indicative value of these activities was estimated between 700 million and one billion euros, Atos indicated at the end of April at the start of discussions with the State on their acquisition. “No certainty can be provided as to the outcome of the negotiations and the conclusion of a definitive agreement between the parties,” Atos warned in its press release.
Its board of directors, under the aegis of conciliator Hélène Bourbouloux, and its management “will discuss this proposal with the State”. “We will do everything to protect the part of so-called ultrasensitive assets, but we will be very vigilant to ensure that they are not sold off,” said Wednesday to Echoes David Layani, boss of Onepoint, after winning the competition for the takeover of Atos against Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky (and creditor of Release), boss of the powerful energy group EPEI.
In its press release, Atos confirms “its objective of achieving to a definitive financial restructuring agreement with the Onepoint consortium and its financial creditors, which will then be implemented through a dedicated accelerated procedure, by July”.
