By Pierre Bertrand
Shares in Atos soared after the beleaguered French IT company received an offer from the French government to acquire its advanced computing activities for up to 625 million euros ($651.7 million).
The non-binding offer for 100% of the computing business is for an initial enterprise value including debt of 500 million euros, potentially rising to up to 625 million euros when including earn-outs, the company said.
The two are in exclusive negotiations and Atos intends to have agreed a share purchase agreement by the end of May next year, it said Monday.
Shares climbed early in the session, trading 76% higher to 0.28 euros. The company is redressing its finances and restoring investor confidence after years of profit warnings, rising debt and a slew of chief executive changes.
In late September, shareholders and creditors voted in favor of a financial rescue plan, which included an injection of funds as well as the conversion of debt into shares. That plan followed a deal reached with banks and bondholders in late June on the terms of the company's financial restructuring.
The rescue of Atos, which was the Summer Olympics' cybersecurity provider, also involves efforts from the French government to take on parts of the business to steer it away from collapse.
Atos' operations span high-performance computing, IT management, service and maintenance, cloud and cybersecurity, including for government, homeland security and defense clients.
This latest offer comes as a previous non-binding offer by the French state for a potential wider slice of Atos, including its mission-critical systems and cybersecurity products businesses in addition to the advanced computing business, expired in early October.
France's interest in taking on parts of the company dates back to late April. At the time, Atos said the French government had offered to buy parts of its big data and cybersecurity business for an enterprise value between 700 million and 1 billion euros.
A previous attempt to sell the big data and security business to Airbus for up to 1.8 billion euros fell apart in March.
Atos said the French government's latest offer provides for an exclusivity period until May 31, 2025, adding that an initial payment of 150 million euros would be expected upon the signing of the share-purchase agreement.
In addition, the company would commit to formally launch the sale of its cybersecurity products and mission critical systems, which generated around 340 million euros in revenue in 2023.
Write to Pierre Bertrand at pierre.bertrand@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2024 05:09 ET (10:09 GMT)
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