French Government Moves to Acquire Atos Advanced Computing for €500 Million

The French government has entered in negotiations with ATOS advanced computing firm for the future acquisition of the company for €500 million. Atos handles the communications for the French military and secret services. Along with that it also supplies to important industries like it provided nuclear facilities for 2014 Paris Olympics.

Reuters reported that Atos is undergoing restructuring to manage its large debt. Moreover, the government has also been making continuous efforts to keep the ownership of the Atos’ strategic technology assets inside the country.

After negotiations with other private firms and a non-binding agreement by the government failed, it has now decided to sign a share purchase agreement with the company by 31st May 2025.

Atos Restructuring Plan

Atos advanced computing businesses include high performance computing and quantum operations along with business computing and AI division. The company has around 2500 employees and generated a revenue of €570 million in 2023.

In a statement, the company said that there will be an initial payment of €150 million when the agreement is signed. It also added that the deal amount could go up to €625 million, including the earn outs, as part of the Atos €500 million sale.

Atos also said that as a part of the restructuring plan it would commit to launch a formal sale process for its cybersecurity products and mission critical systems, which generated a revenue of about €340m in 2023. The company also added that it has agreed with the financial creditors to get an independent expert to assess the deal so that it reflects the correct market value.

As Atos is trying to restructure itself due to huge debt, it has also sold its energy division World grid to Alten, an engineering service firm, for €270 million. The French government is helping the company through the restructuring to keep the strategic technology within the country.

Atos has received approximately €1.7 billion as finances from the banks to pay back its debts. The company also converted €2.9 billion of its credit in shares, thereby giving the creditors control of the company.

Outlook for Atos

Atos’s share has also been taking a hit, as it dropped from €7.7 in December 2023 to €2 in the beginning of 2024 to €0.18 today.

The French Finance ministry said on Monday, 25th November 2024, “It is the role of the French State to guarantee, as a shareholder when it is justified, the perennity and development of the industrial activities that are most strategic for our sovereignty”

In April 2024, a Finance ministry official also said that Atos’s advanced computing system, critical systems, and cyber products are he part of the company’s cyber security unit BDS.