Governance & Risk Management
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Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)
French Ministry Says Talks Are Ongoing to Acquire Cybersecurity Unit
French IT consultancy Atos on Tuesday announced the sale of a power grid consulting and engineer services unit days after some French lawmakers pushed for nationalizing the beleaguered company.
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The Paris company is the world’s largest managed security services vendor. On Tuesday, it announced the sale of its Worldgrid unit to Boulogne-based multinational Alten in a deal valuing the energy and utility consultancy at 270 million euros. The transaction is expected to close before the end of this year, Atos said.
Atos has struggled to pay off a debt of 5 billion euros but the French government considers it strategically important. Its computing, mission-critical systems and cybersecurity units support the French military and other government agencies. It entered in October into a financial restricting plan set to conclude in January that includes capital increases and debt issuance. Under the plan, it will receive an infusion of up to $1.8 billion euros for restructuring. Businessman Philippe Salle is set to become on Feb. 1 the seventh Atos CEO in roughly three years. The company reported a 2.7% decline in revenue during the first half of this year compared to the first six months of 2023 for total revenue of nearly 5 billion euros.
The French government on Friday announced it acquired a “preferred share” in Bull SA, an Atos supercomputing subsidiary. Atos announced in June finalization of an agreement leading to sharing Bull SA equity with the government in exchange for accepting state authority over “sovereign sensitive activities.” Antoine Armand, minister of the economy, finance and industry, said the arrangement guarantees “a high level of security essential to the sovereignty of the nation” that it demonstrates the ability of the government to protect strategic activities.
The Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry said it is continuing in talks to acquire the advanced computing, mission-critical systems and cybersecurity units within the Atos big data and security division. The government previously submitted a non-binding takeover bid, but the offer expired Oct. 4 without a deal in place (see: C’est La Vie: French Atos Acquisition Bid Expires).
Some French lawmakers say outright nationalization of the company would be the best way to resolve its troubles. The National Assembly’s finance committee adopted Friday an amendment funding the transformation of the company into a public asset, Reuters reported. A left-wing politician tweeted that the committee’s support of nationalization is a victory against “the sale in pieces envisaged by the government.”
The amendment “would need to be confirmed by a vote and a parliamentary review, so it’s far from a done deal,” reported The Register.