French govt gives thumbs up to nationalizing Atos
(2024/11/05)
- Reference: 1730791685
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/11/05/french_government_atos/
- Source link:
France's Finance Ministry has approved a proposal to nationalize French tech behemoth Atos and has allocated €70 million to explore the deal.
The corporation, which handles key strategic customers such as the French military (including its telephone system) and the nation's large nuclear industry, has been in trouble for over three years now, and has gone through seven CEOs in that time. The government has been [1]considering selling off parts of Atos to fund rebuilding, but has had [2]little success so far.
The approval of the government buyout came in the form of an amendment to a motion originally tabled by Bastien Lachaud, of the Parti de Gauche, or Left Party. He [3]xeeted a screenshot of the approved amendment, along with the exuberant message (translated from French): "Victory! This strategic company for the defense, as well as the daily life of the French, must be protected against the sale in pieces envisaged by the government."
[4]
"Atos is in bad shape," the amendment reads. "The company is in debt to the tune of €5 billion. The fault of an all-out purchasing and expansion strategy of the company that ended up weakening it."
[5]
[6]
Last week the French government announced a funding round from its Economic and Social Development Fund for the firm, saying the investment would give the government a preferred share in the business.
"The state will thus benefit from reinforced rights, enshrined in the statutes and which may go as far as vetoing in certain cases, on the information and decisions that the company could take," [7]said Antoine Armand, minister of Economy, Finance and Industry.
[8]
"The convention and the preferential action guarantee a high level of security essential to the sovereignty of the nation and demonstrate the state's capacity to deploy the necessary protections in companies that operate strategic activities."
[9]Atos stumbles again as French government says 'non' to purchase of key assets
[10]Atos secures funding for rescue plan, lives to fight another day
[11]Atos shuffles debt around as curtain call nears for restructuring saga
[12]Atos's UK auditor raises 'material uncertainty' about future
The business has made some bad bets in the past – notably banking too much on cloud growth and breaking further into the US market. There have been multiple restructuring talks with different partners, but nothing really has stuck and the government has been [13]getting desperate about maintaining key IT assets that Atos currently runs.
In June Atos [14]reported [PDF] revenues declining 2.7 percent to around €5 billion in the first half of this year. Headcount was down over 9 percent, it lost €1.9 billion, and is carrying €4.2 billion in debt – which it is now [15]frantically trying to restructure. It blamed "continued market softness in the Americas and Central Europe," but predicted better times ahead.
Long term, the market would disagree. Twenty-five years ago Atos's stock price was nearly €150 per share, but at close of business on Monday €0.67 was the going rate. It looks like the government could be getting a steal – or a white elephant. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/14/french_state_still_wants_atos_stake/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/questions_over_atos_finances/
[3] https://x.com/LachaudB/status/1852129687775904227
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zyn61heb0I4Tip_FruBvlwAAAA4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zyn61heb0I4Tip_FruBvlwAAAA4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zyn61heb0I4Tip_FruBvlwAAAA4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://presse.economie.gouv.fr/letat-decide-lacquisition-dune-action-de-preference-dans-bull-sa-filiale-francaise-datos/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zyn61heb0I4Tip_FruBvlwAAAA4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/07/atos_french_deal_fails/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/15/atos_secures_funding_for_rescue/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/04/atos_reaches_final_deal/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/27/atos_uk_going_concern/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/france_buy_atos_assets/
[14] https://atos.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/atos-half-year-2024-financial-report.pdf
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/04/atos_reaches_final_deal/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The corporation, which handles key strategic customers such as the French military (including its telephone system) and the nation's large nuclear industry, has been in trouble for over three years now, and has gone through seven CEOs in that time. The government has been [1]considering selling off parts of Atos to fund rebuilding, but has had [2]little success so far.
The approval of the government buyout came in the form of an amendment to a motion originally tabled by Bastien Lachaud, of the Parti de Gauche, or Left Party. He [3]xeeted a screenshot of the approved amendment, along with the exuberant message (translated from French): "Victory! This strategic company for the defense, as well as the daily life of the French, must be protected against the sale in pieces envisaged by the government."
[4]
"Atos is in bad shape," the amendment reads. "The company is in debt to the tune of €5 billion. The fault of an all-out purchasing and expansion strategy of the company that ended up weakening it."
[5]
[6]
Last week the French government announced a funding round from its Economic and Social Development Fund for the firm, saying the investment would give the government a preferred share in the business.
"The state will thus benefit from reinforced rights, enshrined in the statutes and which may go as far as vetoing in certain cases, on the information and decisions that the company could take," [7]said Antoine Armand, minister of Economy, Finance and Industry.
[8]
"The convention and the preferential action guarantee a high level of security essential to the sovereignty of the nation and demonstrate the state's capacity to deploy the necessary protections in companies that operate strategic activities."
[9]Atos stumbles again as French government says 'non' to purchase of key assets
[10]Atos secures funding for rescue plan, lives to fight another day
[11]Atos shuffles debt around as curtain call nears for restructuring saga
[12]Atos's UK auditor raises 'material uncertainty' about future
The business has made some bad bets in the past – notably banking too much on cloud growth and breaking further into the US market. There have been multiple restructuring talks with different partners, but nothing really has stuck and the government has been [13]getting desperate about maintaining key IT assets that Atos currently runs.
In June Atos [14]reported [PDF] revenues declining 2.7 percent to around €5 billion in the first half of this year. Headcount was down over 9 percent, it lost €1.9 billion, and is carrying €4.2 billion in debt – which it is now [15]frantically trying to restructure. It blamed "continued market softness in the Americas and Central Europe," but predicted better times ahead.
Long term, the market would disagree. Twenty-five years ago Atos's stock price was nearly €150 per share, but at close of business on Monday €0.67 was the going rate. It looks like the government could be getting a steal – or a white elephant. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/14/french_state_still_wants_atos_stake/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/questions_over_atos_finances/
[3] https://x.com/LachaudB/status/1852129687775904227
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zyn61heb0I4Tip_FruBvlwAAAA4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zyn61heb0I4Tip_FruBvlwAAAA4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zyn61heb0I4Tip_FruBvlwAAAA4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://presse.economie.gouv.fr/letat-decide-lacquisition-dune-action-de-preference-dans-bull-sa-filiale-francaise-datos/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zyn61heb0I4Tip_FruBvlwAAAA4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/07/atos_french_deal_fails/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/15/atos_secures_funding_for_rescue/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/04/atos_reaches_final_deal/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/27/atos_uk_going_concern/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/france_buy_atos_assets/
[14] https://atos.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/atos-half-year-2024-financial-report.pdf
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/04/atos_reaches_final_deal/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Atos and the Cloud
Anonymous Coward
"The business has made some bad bets in the past – notably banking too much on cloud growth and breaking further into the US market."
Actually they did the opposite when cloud was accelerating - they doubled down on a complex JV with a full stack EMC on promise model called "Canopy" which promised AWS like pricing but on premise.
It did not go well and eventually it was dismantled, by which point the market had moved on. The also lacked the scale in applications compared to the India Heritage companies, Accenture, etc to access the higher value applications transformation/replatforming work (vs lift and shift)
excperr
Amazing isn't it? Too big to fail..? NO.
mmm
can't they just let it die, like the disabled they fucked over