(News Bulletin 247) – The digital services company announced that its president since 2019, Betrand Meunier, had stepped down from his position, replaced by Jean-Pierre Mustier. The group also provided an update on its split, postponing the sale of its historical scope by a few months.

For better or for worse, Bertrand Meunier embodied the only island of stability in the governance of Atos. Chairman of the board of directors of the digital services company since November 2019, he has seen no fewer than four general directors pass since taking up this position (Elie Girard, Rodolphe Belmer, Nourdine Bihmane, and Yves Bernaert, who was appointed on October 4).

Since the summer of 2022, the leader has faced a series of rebellions. Last spring, the investment company Sycomore AM tried to oust him, without success. His departure was also demanded this summer by an association of Atos shareholders (Udaac), unhappy with the group’s split plan, which will be carried out via the sale of the historic “Tech Foundations” perimeter, which brings together the activities outsourcing, to Daniel Kretinsky, and the refocusing of Atos on cybersecurity, digital transformation and big data by renaming itself “Eviden”. These carriers denounced “permanent errors” in its management. Ditto for the activist fund Ciam which castigated the governance of the group under his presidency. This fund also filed a complaint last week against Bertrand Meunier and against X before the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) for “false or misleading information” linked to the proposed sale of “Tech Foundations”. Ciam had followed in the footsteps of another fund, Alix AM, which had filed a complaint with the PNF for active and passive corruption in the same case.

But Bertrand Meunier has now left Atos. The company announced this Monday that he had wished to step down from his functions and had been replaced on Saturday by Jean-Pierre Mustier, former boss of the financing and investment bank of Société Générale, as chairman of the board. of administration.

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A departure that was initially well received by the market

“In view of the hostility towards him, the departure of Bertrand Meunier could be well received this morning, even if his successor, Jean-Pierre Mustier, does not call into question the plan presented by his predecessor for the sale of Tech Foundations to Daniel Kretinsky”, Invest Securities judged in a note published this Monday morning.

Following the announcement of the departure of Bertrand Meunier, Atos provided an update on its split.

The group updated the timetable, now expecting the completion of the sale of Tech Foundations to Daniel Kretinsky to be completed “in the second quarter” of 2024, “taking into account the anticipated timetable for obtaining regulatory approvals” . The group had previously mentioned the end of this year as a deadline.

Another point: Atos stressed that it was in exclusive negotiations with Daniel Kretinsky’s holding company “to address certain financial parameters” of the sale of Tech Foundations. During a conference with analysts, the group’s financial director Paul Saleh discussed the entry of Daniel Kretinsky into the capital of Eviden.

Let us recall, in fact, that in parallel with the acquisition of Tech Foundations, the Czech businessman is supposed to take 180 million euros in Eviden, which will constitute the new Atos, while a call on the market for 720 million Additional euros must be made for a total capital increase of 900 million euros.

Daniel Kretinsky would have to pay 20 euros per Eviden share to take this stake, “a parameter which is still on the table”, underlined Paul Saleh.

Questions about the sale of Tech Foundations

Furthermore, Atos mentioned “a value creation mechanism”, which would allow the group to take over 10% of Tech Foundations in 2027, depending on the achievement of certain objectives. And, still within the framework of this mechanism, if Daniel Kretinsky decided to sell all or part of Tech Foundations, Atos would receive 40% of the sale proceeds if the sale takes place until December 31, 2026 and 20% if it occurs in 2027 or 2028.

This mechanism had not previously been communicated to investors, and seems to provide a response to shareholders who had contested the sale of Tech Foundations, accusing Atos of not being interested in the potential recovery of this activity. Contacted by News Bulletin 247, Atos assured that this system has existed since the announcement of the sale to Daniel Kretinsky, i.e. since August.

On the Paris Stock Exchange, Atos shares, which are now largely held by individual investors, jumped 20% at the start of the session before turning around and losing more than 3.2% around 11:15 a.m.

“Initially, the market welcomed the departure of Bertrand Meunier who did not shine with his competence and his strategic choices in recent years,” tackles a financial analyst. “But then the market returned to the sale of Tech Foundations and it realized that many questions remained, that there was still a lot of work to be done and that postponing the operation for a few months did not send a message. a good sign, particularly on the financing side. Visibility is low,” adds this analyst.

Atos said on Monday that it was “in active discussions with its financing banks to obtain the banking consents (‘waivers’) necessary for the planned sale of Tech Foundations and to secure new financing for Eviden”.

“The Company is currently negotiating a new term loan of a reduced amount, maturing in December 2026, to replace the €1.5 billion Term Loan A after the transaction. To date, the Company has received positive feedback on banking consents”, developed the company.