(News Bulletin 247) – S&P Global Ratings has placed the digital services group’s credit rating under review with a negative implication. This means that the rating agency plans to downgrade Atos’ long-term credit rating by one notch in the coming months.

While the management of Atos could be worried by a complaint from a group of shareholders, another threat hangs over the IT group. S&P Global Ratings placed the digital services company’s long-term credit rating “BB” on Thursday evening under review, with negative implications. The rating agency justifies this decision on Atos following the latest announcements concerning the group’s restructuring.

In early August, Atos formalized its plan to sell Tech Foundations, its division bringing together its historic outsourcing activities, to EP Equity Investment, the investment fund of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

“Heavy debt”

In addition to this sale, Atos intends to restructure around its subsidiary Eviden, which brings together the growing businesses (digital transformation, big data, cybersecurity, supercomputers) of the French company. And to mark this important step in this transformation, Atos will take the name of Eviden. It is this entity which is called upon to present “heavy indebtedness”, underlines S&P with a multiple of debt on EBITDA (gross operating surplus) greater than 6 in 2023.

In this context, the rating agency plans to downgrade Atos’ long-term credit rating by one notch to “BB-” once the split between Tech Foundations and Eviden is finalized. Either in the next six to nine months, adds S&P.

The restructuring plan of Atos raises many questions and does not win the support of the market. Several market analysts had notably pointed to massive uncertainty about the dilution linked to the two fundraisers associated with the split operation.

The restructuring of Atos even took a political turn. Parliamentarians from the Republicans party split from a column published in Le Figaro, calling to keep Atos “under French control”. They were moved by the upcoming arrival in the capital of the Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky in Eviden, the entity bringing together the very sensitive and strategic activities of supercomputers, considered essential to the French nuclear deterrent.

On the Paris Stock Exchange, the Atos title lost 1.55% to 7.26 euros on Friday around 10:20 a.m., bringing its decline to 50% since the publication of its half-year accounts on July 28.