(Bloomberg) — Struggling French technology company Atos SE has received offers to help bail out the company that will frame discussions with its stakeholders around its restructuring.
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David Layani’s OnePoint, a group of Atos creditors, private equity firm Bain Capital and billionaire Daniel Kretinsky alongside credit fund Attestor Ltd. submitted bids last week, the company said in a statement Monday. The company decided not to pursue further discussions with Bain Capital because the private equity fund’s offer did not meet Atos’ objectives.
Read more: Kretinsky partners with Attestor in bid for French IT company Atos
Atos intends to reach a restructuring agreement with its creditors on May 31 and a final agreement by July 2024. CEO Paul Saleh is trying to save Atos, which was once one of the country’s leading technology companies before a series of setbacks abandoned him. on the verge of insolvency. The company said it needed to raise 1.7 billion euros in new money to fund the business until 2025 and reduce its debt by 3.2 billion euros.
Atos indicated that negotiations with the French State regarding the purchase of strategic activities were ongoing. The company has reached an interim financing agreement of 100 million euros ($108 million) with bondholders and discussions are progressing with its banks and the French state on the remaining 350 million euros, it said. Atos.
Details of Kretinsky and Attestor’s combined bid were first reported by Bloomberg. Atos said on Monday that details of the proposals would be published on its investor relations website.
Read more: Atos CEO says debt talks will save fallen French tech star
The original submission date for proposals was pushed back by a week and the injection and debt reduction requirements were revised after Atos reported its debt problems had deterred customers, forcing them to delay the conclusion of new contracts and harm the financial results of the first half. quarter.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said earlier this week that the government had offered to take over parts of the company that it considered strategic.
Yet previous plans to shed assets and raise cash failed. Separate negotiations with Airbus SE and Kretinsky broke down earlier this year, and the French government was forced to step in with interim financing. A court-appointed mediator now manages the conciliation process with its creditors.
Atos provides IT services, including to key ministries as well as the nuclear industry, and has struck a deal to provide cybersecurity to the Paris Olympics this summer. The company grew rapidly over the previous decade through acquisitions, adding supercomputing and cybersecurity services to its IT products. But investors began to balk at the spending, and in 2021, auditors discovered accounting errors at two of the company’s U.S. entities.
Read more: Why the former $15 billion French tech champion needs state aid
Meanwhile, analysts say Atos missed…
