The long-running Atos saga took one other twist right now after it introduced the nomination to its board of One Level CEO David Layani, who beforehand made an audacious bid for the ailing integrator and outsourcing biz.
Layani is considered one of three new administrators being introduced onto the board. One Level already owns 11.4 p.c of the Atos Group, and had a €4.2 billion ($4.5 billion) joint bid with non-public fairness fund ICG rejected by Atos in September 2022, on the idea that the phrases weren’t in the perfect curiosity of shareholders.
“Having led the expansion of Onepoint in France and abroad since 2002, he brings to Atos insights and experience within the digital transformation and tech trade,” Paris Inventory Alternate-listed Atos instructed buyers this morning.
Others becoming a member of the Atos head shed embody Helen Lee Bouygues, president of safety LB Associés, who has a background in “organizational transformation, finance and company technique”; and Mandy Metten, at present head of group executives and strategic capabilities at Atos.
The appointment come a day after Atos confirmed that negotiations with Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský regarding a sale of the Tech Foundations (TF) division to his EP Fairness Funding (EPEI) firm had failed and have been over. The TF enterprise that he was in talks to purchase homes the Datacenter and Internet hosting, Digital Office, Unified Comms, and Enterprise Course of Outsourcing models.
The beginning of the present saga began in 2022 following a string of income and a €1.9 billion ($2.06 billion) goodwill writedown that compelled administration to rethink company technique. The enterprise initiated a restructure into three enterprise models – cloud, safety and digital.
By the summer time of that yr, the shortlived tenure of CEO Rudolph Belmer was minimize quick after he stop amid a proposal to separate Atos in two – the legacy parts, which grew to become TF; and placing the massive information and safety enterprise into one other automobile that will be spun out and listed individually of the Paris Alternate referred to as Evidian (initially it was branded Eviden).
Atos then ditched 12,000 workers and employed 16,000 that have been principally based mostly in offshore and nearshore areas to chop prices. Traders referred to as Atos’s turnaround makes an attempt too difficult and smelling a possibility, One Level made its bid.
Airbus then got here into the body as an investor however was warned off by considered one of its personal main shareholders to not get entangled, although it’s nonetheless thinking about snaffling the safety enterprise from Atos
Křetínský pulling out, as confirmed yesterday, is a serious blow to the Atos Group, which has been in talks with its banks over refinancing after a rights concern fell by.
James Preece, analyst at Megabuyte, stated right now that Atos “continues to hobble nearer to the brink,” saying that the TF sale might have “absolved it of a painful multi-year turnaround job while concurrently transferring a major chunk of its debt burden (€1.9 billion).”
“As an alternative, renewed phrases and French authorities involvement seems to have been ample to scupper the deal. Atos now finds itself additional down the monitor with two divisions in dire want of consideration and little to no monetary wiggle room.
“It is at present one step away from extra formal authorized proceedings following the appointment of a mandataire advert hoc earlier this month, which appears an inevitability except it may claw one thing again from the sale of its BDS (Huge Knowledge & Safety) division. Airbus is the social gathering, however additionally it is the ‘crown jewel’ of Atos and one thing it appeared reluctant to promote beforehand.”
As Georgina O’Toole, analyst at TechMarketView, identified final week, the 40+ p.c drop in Atos shares over the previous yr give it a market cap of €271.6 million ($294.5 million) versus its 5 yr excessive of €9.84 billion ($10.67 billion), as she spoke of its troubles.
“The short-term concern for all components of Atos – together with the UK – is that the uncertainty is now impacting dealings with purchasers and prospects. This quarter (to finish March) is the hardest for the enterprise but, because the organizations that it offers with begin turning into extra conscious of the refinancing hurdles that the enterprise faces, and delay selections. The hope might be that we’ll see some readability by the springtime, each when it comes to the refinancing and the potential gross sales.” ®
