Governance & Risk Management , Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)

Atos Agrees to New Financial Restructuring Plans

French IT consultancy Atos agreed to a last-minute financial restriction plan as the debt-ridden company is set to finalize a proposed buyout by the French government.

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Atos is the world's largest managed security services vendor, serving public and private-sector clients. In a statement on Tuesday, Atos said it has decided to proceed with financial restructuring plans put forward by a consortium of investors and creditors led by Onepoint, a Paris-based IT consulting firm, which is already an Atos shareholder.

French investor David Layani, who owns Onepoint, won the deal in last-minute bid against a proposal from Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský. The development follows an earlier failed Atos takeover bid by both Onepoint and Křetínský (see: Atos Rejects $4.12B Onepoint Bid for Cybersecurity Business).

"A solution has emerged, which aligns with the interest of the company's stakeholders, particularly our employees and clients. This solution gives us a clear path to reach a final financial restructuring agreement by July," Jean-Pierre Mustier, chairman of Atos' board of directors, said on Tuesday.

The proposed restructuring plan includes converting 2.9 billion euros worth of debt into equity, converting another 1.5 billion euros into new debt funds and converting 250 million euros into new money equity. The company will also receive 175 million euros from the consortium of investors for 21% of the fully diluted equity and another 75 million euros from creditors or 9% of the fully diluted equity.

The financial restructuring plan is backed by Paris-based Butler Industries and the French digital services company Conoco and a group of Atos creditors.

Atos said the plan would mean that the company would now own less than 0.1% of its share capital, while Onepoint's total holding in Atos would increase by 1.4%. The deal will also grant Onepoint voting rights in Atos' operations.

"A cooperation agreement was signed with Atos on December 7th," Onepoint said, adding that the plan will result in both IT consulting companies closely working on cloud computing, artificial intelligence and decarbonization.

This latest development comes as Atos is set to finalize a potential takeover bid of its advanced computing, critical systems capable of supporting artificial intelligence, and its loss-making Big Data and Security unit by the French government (see: French Government Bids on Atos' Cyber and Computing Assets).

The three areas generate an annual turnover of 900 million euros, out of the total revenue of 11 billion euros for Atos. The Financial Times on Tuesday reported that the French government is set to buy the company for an estimated 1 billion euros and that it will take months before it is finalized.

French defense companies Thales and the French state-backed investment bank Bpifrance are set to assist in the government takeover, the Financial Times reported.

Atos reached a deal with the French government following two previous failed takeover bids by European aerospace giant Airbus (see: Airbus Backtracks From Planned Atos Cybersecurity Takeover).