The French government has officially completed the acquisition of Bull from Atos for €404 million. The business unit, formerly known as Eviden, includes HPC, quantum, and AI divisions. Among other things, the company builds supercomputers for the French government to protect nuclear facilities, among other things. With the acquisition, the government becomes the sole shareholder, ensuring France has a sovereign IT service provider in a critical military sector.
The share purchase agreement was signed in July 2025. Earlier this year, we reported that the historic name Bull had officially returned as an independent entity for high-performance computing, AI, and quantum. The transaction amount is slightly lower than the previously mentioned 410 million euros, as the data consulting firm zData and the Vision AI division were excluded from the deal. Atos acquired Bull in 2014 for 620 million euros.
HPC, AI, and quantum under one roof
Bull comprises the Advanced Computing divisions of the former Atos subsidiary Eviden: the units for High-Performance Computing (HPC), Quantum, and Business Computing & Artificial Intelligence. In fiscal year 2025, these units together generated an estimated revenue of 700 million euros. Bull also carries strategic weight: the supercomputer division builds systems used for modeling France’s nuclear defense capabilities.
As Eviden, the company previously built Jupiter, Europe’s first exascale supercomputer. Last year, a contract followed for a second European exascale machine, Alice Recoque, named after computer science pioneer Alice Recoque. That machine will be installed at the French nuclear research center TGCC. Bull also operates the only supercomputer factory in Europe, located in Angers, where a new production facility will soon be put into operation.
Sovereignty as a Strategy
France had more than enough motivation to keep the company in French hands. Bull describes itself as the only European player that designs, builds, and deploys HPC hardware and software entirely in-house. Meanwhile, the EU has also selected six new European locations for AI factories, partly based on Bull’s exascale infrastructure. Atos had long been in trouble as a whole company, with France hoping—through Airbus, among others—that the company would not only survive but also remain domestic. That has now succeeded for a critical component; Atos itself is now in somewhat calmer waters.
“With the completion of this acquisition, the French State, as a shareholder, has reached a decisive milestone for France’s technological sovereignty,” said Roland Lescure, France’s Minister of the Economy, Industry, and Digital Sovereignty.
For Atos itself, the proceeds from the sale provide financial breathing room. The company faced a 13.8 percent organic revenue decline in 2025 and is working on a four-year recovery plan called Genesis. The proceeds from the Bull sale reduce the debt burden and provide capital for the strategic priorities of that plan.