Atos plans to divest and sell its big data and cybersecurity business. One possible candidate buyer is aircraft manufacturer Airbus, according to a recent market update from the company.
Atos has been restructuring its operations and trying to split up the company for the past two years. This is because of the company’s high debts (more than 2 billion euros) and the deadline for repayment that is pushing ever closer. Part of this restructuring includes divesting and selling certain services and divisions of the IT group.
Airbus wants to buy BDS business
An important part of this process is the sale of Atos’ Big Data & Security (BDS) business unit. Atos recently announced two parties show interest in this unit.
One of these parties, which would like to acquire all BDS activities, is aircraft manufacturer Airbus. It had previously expressed interest in a minority stake in this Atos branch. This eventually fell through due to protests from an important Atos shareholder. The French IT group is now entering into talks with Airbus for the complete takeover. Talks with Airbus have already reached a stage where both parties are starting a due diligence process, a total analysis of the other party. An offer between 1.5 and 1.8 billion euros has also already been made.
The name of the other possible buyer has not been disclosed. However, Atos does indicate that this party is interested in divisions of the BDS business.
Negotiations with EPEI
In addition to the acquisition talks with Airbus, Atos is also still in the process of selling its Tech Foundations portfolio to Czech businessman Daniel Křetínský’s investor EPEI. In its statement, Atos indicated that it is uncertain whether these negotiations will eventually become successful.
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