French government makes new attempt to take over part of Atos. Will Atos bite this time?
Atos confirms with a press release that it has received a non-binding offer from the French government for its Advanced Computing business. The bid amounts to at least 500 million euros, but could rise to 625 million euros upon meeting certain performance targets. The division turned a turnover of 570 million euros in 2023.
This is not the first time Atos has been at the negotiating table with the French government. In the summer, Atos received an offer to take over the cybersecurity business, among other things, in addition to Advanced Computing. An agreement was not reached in time, but the French government has not quite given up on Atos.
This time, May 31, 2025 has been set as the deadline. If an agreement is found, Atos can already expect a first payment of 150 million euros.
Restructuring
The potential sale of part of the business to the French government is part of broader restructuring that Atos is undertaking. A work of the long haul. Atos has been in trouble for several years. The numbers are abysmal and the company changes CEOs faster than the average soccer team changes coaches.
That the French government is willing to go to such lengths to keep Atos within its borders is not surprising. Atos is a strategic IT partner for the government, so it wants to avoid foreign interference at all costs. Atos’ Advanced Computing branch includes all activities related to HPC, quantum computing and AI.
Plans are even underway within parliament to nationalize Atos completely, although it seems unlikely that the proposal will ever pass. Atos is not exactly eager for it. However, it is no secret that the company is urgently looking for pennies, in which case relinquishing part of the government’s business could be a slippery slope. The company is also looking at getting rid of other activities.
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