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Atos has seen two deals to sell assets fall apart in recent months, while France’s government plans to step in to protect strategic assets.
French IT company Atos has suffered a setback to its plans, as the deal to sell its cybersecurity assets to Airbus has fallen apart.
Airbus confirmed in a statement that it has decided to no longer pursue a potential transaction, after it considered “all aspects” of the potential acquisition. Airbus has considered purchasing Atos’ big data and security business line.
Airbus made a non-binding offer of between €1.5bn and €1.8bn in January to purchase this cybersecurity business from Atos, according to reports. The new statement from Airbus is brief and provides no explanation as to why the deal was cancelled, but the decision appears to have gone down favourably with investors as the company’s share price grew slightly following the announcement.
Meanwhile, the loss of this deal is a blow for Atos, which has been struggling to raise new finance in recent months. The company was in negotiations to sell some of its operations to billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, but those negotiations fell apart last month.
Atos’ share price has tumbled significantly over the past few months, falling from roughly €7.7 per share in December 2023 to its current low of less than €2. Atos said it is analysing the current situation and is “actively evaluating strategic alternatives that will take into consideration the sovereign imperatives of the French state”.
“Consequently, the company is rescheduling its 2023 earnings release in the near future in order to evaluate strategic options,” Atos said.
Atos claims to be a trusted partner to various defence organisations and its software is used by elements within France’s military. This is giving it some protection from the fallout of the collapsed Airbus deal.
In a statement seen by Reuters, France’s finance ministry said that the finance minster will use “all the means at his disposal” to protect strategic activities and that the French government will come up with a solution around Atos’ “sensitive activities”.
In 2022, Atos declined a $3bn offer to sell its cybersecurity business to defence company Thales. An Atos spokesperson said at the time that the division was “not up for sale”.
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