The French government sends a letter of intent to the heavily indebted technology company, offering to pay for three key assets, in order to keep them in national hands.
The French government is seeking to buy key parts of Atos to prevent them from falling into foreign hands, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Atos confirmed that it received a non-binding letter of intent this weekend offering it up to 1 billion euros for assets considered strategically important to France.
The divisions falling into these categories are: Atos Advanced Computing, Critical Systems and Cyber Products.
The French army needs secure communications technology
The French army uses Atos supercomputers for quantum computing as part of its nuclear weapons program. It also uses secure communications technology. Additionally, there are other cybersecurity assets that it values.
The French government fears that foreign investors, notably hedge funds, will take control of Atos, which must restructure its gross debt of 4.8 billion euros, explained the FT.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told news channel LCI on Sunday: “There are sovereign assets at Atos which must remain under the exclusive control of France.
“We have expressed our interest in acquiring all of Atos’ strategic assets. »
The assets the government has proposed to buy generate some €900 million in annual turnover, or less than 10% of the company’s turnover in 2023.
It employs 4,000 people, or around 4% of the total workforce.
Stocks climb following announcement of liquidity hopes
The French manufacturer of Rafael fighter jets, Dassault Aviation, had already expressed an interest in taking over some assets from Atos, the FT revealed, adding that French defense electronics group Thales would be another potential interested group.
Atos says it needs around €1.7 billion in cash to support the business. This figure is significantly higher than that announced earlier in the month.
The company’s shares rose 17% in early trading following the government’s announcement of interest.
