(News Bulletin 247) – Atos announced Thursday morning that it had opened a phase of discussions with the aeronautical group with a view to selling it 30% of this company which it intends to list on the stock market.

There was no shortage of suitors, but Atos chose Airbus as the white knight. The digital services company announced on Thursday that it had received an offer from the aeronautical group to take a 29.9% stake in Evidian.

This company will bring together Atos’ activities in digital transformation, cybersecurity and supercomputers, with an IPO planned for the second half of 2023, by distributing 70% of the capital to shareholders. Atos will, for its part, be refocused on its historical scope, including in particular outsourcing activities.

Following this expression of interest, Atos has decided to pursue discussions with Airbus in order to conduct a due diligence process. [un audit avant une transaction, NDLR] and to negotiate mutually satisfactory conditions” with a view to this sale of 29.9% in Evidian.

“Atos does not plan to grant exclusivity to Airbus, and no certainty can be provided as to the outcome of the negotiations and the conclusion of a definitive set of agreements between the parties. Atos confirms its commitment to review the expressions of interest received from partners able to support a major financial and industrial project”, the company also warned.

Promising prospects

Atos believes, however, that having Airbus as a reference shareholder would make it possible to strengthen itself in the cloud and “advanced computing” (advanced computing).

“In addition, the combination of Airbus’ capabilities with Evidian’s global leadership position in managed security services and supercomputers would create a leading European player in the field of cybersecurity and in the digitalization of the defense, public safety and critical national infrastructure sector,” the company argues.

The announcement of these discussions with Airbus caused the Atos stock to jump 8.4% at the start of the session on the Paris Stock Exchange.

Evidian offers attractive prospects. Unlike the historical scope of Atos, which is shrinking, this company should see its turnover increase by 8% to 10% per year between 2021 and 2026 and posted an operating margin close to 8% in 2021.

This explains why several companies have eyed this future company. The French engineering group Astek had expressed its interest in the press. Atos had also rejected in September an offer to buy Evidian for an enterprise value of 4.2 billion euros from the Onepoint group. The name of Orange had also been mentioned several times.