The creditors and banks of Atos agreed on Sunday to take over and save the French IT giant in difficulty themselves, which could mark the epilogue of a saga with twists and turns a few weeks before the Olympics, of which the group is a technological pillar.
This agreement will involve a capital increase of 233 million euros, a provision of new financing of 1.5 to 1.675 billion euros and a debt reduction of 3.1 billion euros, according to a press release released four days after the consortium led by Onepoint, the first shareholder of Atos initially chosen to carry out this takeover, threw in the towel.
This announcement, made by Atos management, reinforces hopes of a way out of the crisis for the group, which employs some 100,000 people in 69 countries but has been plunged into chaos in recent months.
He now hopes to move very quickly to launch operations at the beginning of July, before the Olympic Games.
“The restructuring operations will then be implemented during the second half of 2024 with a view to effective completion by the end of 2024 or during the first quarter of 2025,” specifies the group.
Banks and bondholders will then become its majority shareholders: they will hold up to 99.9% of the capital.
The capital increase is, however, open to current shareholders who would not wish to see their stake diluted and could, if they contribute, secure a maximum of 25.9% of the shares.
The agreement reached should make it possible to get the group out of the financial rut, to obtain a “BB” credit rating “by 2026” and to guarantee it “a minimum amount of liquidity of 1.1 billion euros “until December 31, 2026.
– “Reinvest” –
Once the French flagship of IT, the company had a colossal gross debt of 4.8 billion euros and was fighting for its survival. “Atos is saved, it’s over,” a source close to the creditors told AFP on Sunday. “The agreement was reached between the banks and bondholders who have supported Atos from the beginning.”
“The main idea is that everything is launched before the Olympics,” she added. The agreement “leaves a share to current shareholders. Those who believe in Atos and would like to reinvest will be able to do so”, she underlined.
Is Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, a rejected candidate for the takeover of the group, out of the game? Creditors and banks “are not closed to the arrival of an industrialist”, this source stressed.
“He would still have to prove that he is an industrialist and that it is without (the German fund) Attestor”, which accompanied him in his takeover bid and which “we no longer want to hear about”.
The other investor in the running to take over Atos, Onepoint boss David Layani, whose offer had been chosen on June 11, threw in the towel this week, to everyone’s surprise.
Mr. Layani, who was to become the new leader, then resigned from the board of directors of Atos on Friday and announced that his group wanted to exit the capital, of which it holds 11%.
– Strategic dimension –
Mired in a financial crisis for almost three years, Atos, whose share is now worth less than one euro on the stock market, initiated a restructuring procedure in February.
It is to be a technological pillar of the Paris Games this summer and its future also has a strong political dimension linked to its strategic activities in the field of defense (army equipment or supercomputers used for French nuclear deterrence in particular).
In the section concerning these sensitive activities, Atos announced this week that it had “finalized” the negotiation with the French State “of an agreement aimed at protecting the interests of sovereignty” of the latter. In short, the aim is to prevent these activities from falling into the hands of foreign actors.
In mid-June, the State made an offer of 700 million euros to buy them.
Do you have a real estate project in mind? Yakeey & Médias24 help you make it happen!
