French government leaves $1.1 billion hole in Atos refinancing plan, Atos says don’t worry

Atos has failed to agree terms with the French government for the sale of part of its business, one of several elements of its plan to refinance its debt.

Back in April, the French government was reportedly ready to pay up to €1 billion (around $1.1 billion) for the company’s advanced computing, mission-critical systems, and cybersecurity products activities, in which it has a sovereign interest.

But on Monday Atos said the government revised its offer on September 30, and the two parties were unable to agree terms by the time the offer expired on October 4.

After a troubled year and a series of new CEOs, Atos seemed to have pulled a rabbit out of the hat in July, when it locked in a $1.8 billion restructuring plan with its banks and shareholders. That wasn’t enough to get it back into the black, though, and its net loss in the first half of the year grew to €1.91 billion (about $2.1 billion), compared to a loss of €600 million a year earlier.

The expiry of the government’s offer doesn’t mean it’s all over. Atos said it has offered to continue discussions and has sent the government a new proposal. That offer will need not just the agreement of the government, but also the Commercial Court in Nanterre, which is waiting to receive the company’s safeguard plan on October 15.

The company played down the importance of the billion-dollar deal falling through, saying that “the expiry of the offer has no impact on the current financial restructuring process” and in any case its restructuring plan “includes the preservation of these activities within the Atos Group.”

The activities the government had offered to buy are part of Atos’ Big Data and Security division, which was itself briefly the target acquisition interest by aircraft manufacturer Airbus. That deal fell through in March.

Atos’s roller-coaster year:

• Atos slides deeper into the red (8/1/24)
• Atos locks in $1.8 billion to fund restructuring plan (7/16/24)
• Atos grabs lifeline from Onepoint (6/14/24)
• Atos receives four offers of help (5/6/24)
• Atos may sell national security activities to French government (4/29/24)
• Atos staves off bankruptcy, casts wider net for refinancing (4/9/24)
• Airbus abandons possible acquisition of Atos data division (3/19/24)
• Atos deal to sell its legacy service business falls through (2/28/24)
• Atos calls for help after plan to raise new capital falters (2/5/24)
• Atos CEO Yves Bernaert quits over governance differences (1/15/24)
• Atos contemplates fire sale as break-up plan falters (1/3/24)
• IT services company Atos runs into headwinds with plan for IBM-style split (10/16/23)