PARIS (Reuters) – Atos shares fell on the Paris Stock Exchange on Monday, with a trader citing concerns over calls from MPs to nationalize the struggling IT group.
At 12:47 p.m., Atos shares fell 9.57% to 4.2290 euros after having lost up to 15.1%.
The Republican MP, Olivier Marleix, tabled an amendment on Friday in the 2024 finance bill, currently under debate in the National Assembly, for “a temporary total nationalization of Atos”.
“This choice is motivated by the threats of acquisition from Daniel Kretinsky and the major changes planned for the group,” it is indicated in the motion visible on the National Assembly website.
“Once this temporary phase is completed, the State would consider reselling these strategic assets to French companies.”
In great difficulty, Atos has decided to split its historical IT consulting activities and those in cybersecurity.
The Tech Foundations branch, bringing together IT consulting activities, is to be sold to the EPEI group of Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky.
The project is contested by minority shareholders as well as certain political leaders, leading last week to the departure of the chairman of the board of directors.
A finance ministry source told Reuters on Monday that the government was not considering a nationalization of Atos.
(Written by Blandine Hénault, with contributions from Danilo Masoni, Michal Aleksandrowicz, Tassilo Hummel and Bertrand Boucey, edited by Kate Entringer)
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