Relations between Atos and its minority shareholder (3%), Sycomore, who would like to land the chairman of the board of directors, Bertrand Meunier, continue to deteriorate. The fund wants Leo Apotheker, a tech veteran, ex-boss of SAP and Hewlett-Packard, to succeed him. ” I find it absurd that the Atos board does not have at least a third of its members who really understand the businesses and the technologies. We must bring in the necessary talents “, said Tuesday at the Figaro Sycamore’s hoped-for successor. ” I pledge myself out of moral duty in the face of this shipwreck “, he said.
Atos: billionaire Daniel Kretinsky interested in the outsourcing branch
” A change at the head of the board of directors would destabilize the group and go against its social interest.l”, reacted the lead administrator of Atos, Liz Tinkham, quoted in a press release from the group. Leo Apotheker and Cyril Charlot, founding partner of Sycomore AM, ” know nothing about the effective functioning of the governance of Atos “, added the group, which has been going through a crisis since the departure of Thierry Breton in 2019, with three successive management teams.
Sycomore Asset Management presented in April its plan to oust the chairman of the board of directors Bertrand Meunier, during the general meeting scheduled for the end of June. The president of Atos is the target of many criticisms because of the difficulties of the group which, in two years, has lost 4 billion euros and seen its price drop by 80% since the beginning of 2021.
Ongoing negotiations with billionaire Daniel Kretinsky challenged
The fund is also contesting the plan to split up the activities and the ongoing negotiations with billionaire Daniel Kretinsky for the acquisition of its historic outsourcing branch, Tech Foundations, IT management for others. According to BFM Business, the group’s management is intensifying its discussions with the Czech businessman to sell him this activity by paying him 600 million euros in cash to finance the restructuring. He would also ask him to invest in the other branch, which brings together more dynamic activities such as cybersecurity.
” There is interest where there is value: we have proven that this business is far from dead ” And ” the board of directors and its president are studying all expressions of interest for Tech Foundations “, only commented Nourdine Bihmane, CEO of Atos, during a conference call last week. He also claimed that the plan for separation into two entities was ” on the right track “.
(With AFP)
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