(News Bulletin 247) – Very upset against the group’s strategy, a minority shareholder of Atos is stepping up to push its president Bertand Meunier towards the exit door at the next general meeting.

Asset manager Sycomore AM said Thursday that he intended to act to oust the chairman of the board of directors of the Atos IT group, Bertrand Meunier, at the next general meeting, the date of which is not yet known.

The president of Atos is the target of much criticism because of the difficulties of the group which, in two years, recorded nearly 4 billion euros in cumulative net losses (in 2021 and 2022) and saw its share price fall by 80 % (since early 2021).

Last summer, after the announcement of a split plan, several small shareholders had already demanded the departure of Bertrand Meunier, including Sycomore Asset Management, which owns “a little less than 1%”.

During the GA, Sycomore intends either to file two resolutions to dismiss the chairman and three members of the board of directors, or to vote against the renewal of their terms of office, Cyril Charlot, co-founder of Sycomore, told the press.

“A problem of governance”

Cyril Charlot denounced “a governance problem” within Atos, which has led to three different management teams since the departure of Thierry Breton in 2019. He also disputes the presence on the board of directors of members with too distant backgrounds of Atos activities.

The manager wants the departure of three long-time members: Aminata Niane, president of an infrastructure development agency, Lynn Paine, professor of management, and Vernon Sankey, former boss of the food group Reckitt & Colman.

“We will also ask for clarification on the split project,” added Cyril Charlot.

Mid-2022, Bertrand Meunier announced a plan to split Atos into two listed entities by the second half of 2023. One, renamed Evidian, will include its most dynamic activities (cybersecurity, cloud, supercomputers), and the other will bring together the historical activities of outsourcing (IT management for others), workstation assistance and business services.

“Synergies with traditional activities”

Airbus, which was negotiating the takeover of 30% of Evidian, threw in the towel at the start of the year. The aeronautical group, according to analysts, would ultimately only be interested in cybersecurity activities, which could also interest other large companies in the sector.

“Why not sell cybersecurity, but we would like Atos to explain to us what justifies selling the other activities when there are possible synergies with traditional activities”, estimated the co-founder of Sycomore AM.

Given this assessment, Cyril Charlot “does not see how our resolution would not have been voted massively by the shareholders”, specifying to be in contact with several of them.

(With AFP)