French tech company Atos announces rescue proposal by Daniel Kretinsky and One Point
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French tech group Atos says Czech billionaires Daniel Krzetinski and David Rayani's One Point have offered to rescue the heavily indebted group as it races to conclude a restructuring agreement this month. did.
The Paris-listed group, which faces debt repayments of 3.65 billion euros by the end of next year, said on Monday it had received offers from four parties.
Krzetinski previously attempt failed It has teamed up with London-based hedge fund Attestor in a new offer to acquire the oldest part of Atos, which focuses on managing IT systems.
One point is the largest shareholder. Athoshas submitted another proposal backed by investment firm Butler Industries. American private equity firm Bain also made an approach, but Atos decided not to proceed with the talks, saying the proposal did not meet its objectives. The fourth proposal came from a consortium of IT company bondholders and bank creditors.
“Any solution would likely involve fundamental changes to the company's capital structure and the issuance of significant new shares, resulting in significant dilution to existing shareholders,” Atos said in a statement.
The group's plight is It got worse this year, credit institutions have repeatedly downgraded their ratings. The company's stock price has fallen by more than 90% over the past three years, with a market value of just 250 million euros, while leadership changes continue. The company's shares soared as much as 12% in early trading in Paris on Monday before giving up gains.
In a sign of the deteriorating situation, Atos recently increased its funding projections to 1.7 billion euros to survive until 2025. The company announced on Monday that a 100 million euro deal for short-term financing had been agreed with bondholders, while negotiations were underway with banks and the French government to secure an additional 350 million euros. did.
Talks are also continuing with the French government, with the aim of giving the French government control over assets deemed strategically important, Athos said. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire previously said the government had proposed buying key assets for up to 1 billion euros.
of government wants to buy Three parts of Atos: A super calculator for quantum computing. It is used by the French military in its national nuclear weapons program. Secure communication technology used by the military. and certain cybersecurity assets. The company plans to provide cybersecurity services for this summer's Paris Olympics.
Until recently, the government had distanced itself from the turmoil at Atos, which is chaired by former UniCredit boss Jean-Pierre Moustier, but multiple attempts to restructure the company and sell off its assets have failed.
But as the company's financial situation worsened, the government stepped in to provide short-term loans and create “golden shares” that could be applied to the company's strategic assets, allowing ministers to block a potential sale. did.
Summarize this content to 100 words Unlock Editor's Digest for freeFT editor Roula Khalaf has chosen her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.French tech group Atos says Czech billionaires Daniel Krzetinski and David Rayani's One Point have offered to rescue the heavily indebted group as it races to conclude a restructuring agreement this month. did.The Paris-listed group, which faces debt repayments of 3.65 billion euros by the end of next year, said on Monday it had received offers from four parties.Krzetinski previously attempt failed It has teamed up with London-based hedge fund Attestor in a new offer to acquire the oldest part of Atos, which focuses on managing IT systems.One point is the largest shareholder. Athoshas submitted another proposal backed by investment firm Butler Industries. American private equity firm Bain also made an approach, but Atos decided not to proceed with the talks, saying the proposal did not meet its objectives. The fourth proposal came from a consortium of IT company bondholders and bank creditors.”Any solution would likely involve fundamental changes to the company's capital structure and the issuance of significant new shares, resulting in significant dilution to existing shareholders,” Atos said in a statement.The group's plight is It got worse this year, credit institutions have repeatedly downgraded their ratings. The company's stock price has fallen by more than 90% over the past three years, with a market value of just 250 million euros, while leadership changes continue. The company's shares soared as much as 12% in early trading in Paris on Monday before giving up gains.In a sign of the deteriorating situation, Atos recently increased its funding projections to 1.7 billion euros to survive until 2025. The company announced on Monday that a 100 million euro deal for short-term financing had been agreed with bondholders, while negotiations were underway with banks and the French government to secure an additional 350 million euros. did.Talks are also continuing with the French government, with the aim of giving the French government control over assets deemed strategically important, Athos said. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire previously said the government had proposed buying key assets for up to 1 billion euros.of government wants to buy Three parts of Atos: A super calculator for quantum computing. It is used by the French military in its national nuclear weapons program. Secure communication technology used by the military. and certain cybersecurity assets. The company plans to provide cybersecurity services for this summer's Paris Olympics.Until recently, the government had distanced itself from the turmoil at Atos, which is chaired by former UniCredit boss Jean-Pierre Moustier, but multiple attempts to restructure the company and sell off its assets have failed.But as the company's financial situation worsened, the government stepped in to provide short-term loans and create “golden shares” that could be applied to the company's strategic assets, allowing ministers to block a potential sale. did.
https://www.ft.com/content/a0e98b36-5f9f-4924-96e5-d9f05d93f3f7 French tech company Atos announces rescue proposal by Daniel Kretinsky and One Point
