French tech company Atos rejects bid interest valued at $4.1 billion for its Evidian arm
PARIS (Reuters) – French technology consultancy company Atos, whose shares have slumped on scepticism over its restructuring plan, said it had rejected expressions of interest from rival ‘onepoint’ and UK private equity fund ICG in Atos’ Evidian unit.
Atos said the company ‘onepoint’ and ICG had sent it an unsolicited letter of intent related to the potential acquisition of Atos’ Evidian business for an indicative enterprise value of 4.2 billion euros ($4.1 billion).
“Following the thorough examination of this preliminary and non-binding mark of interest, and upon the recommendation of its ad hoc committee, the board of directors has convened and unanimously concluded that it is not in the interest of the company and its stakeholders,” said Atos.
“The board of directors has therefore decided not to proceed,” added Atos.
Former CEO Rodolphe Belmer announced in June that he would leave Atos just as the group presented a plan to split up into two groups, with the aim of spinning off and combining its most lucrative assets, including its cybersecurity division BDS.
The company has since secured financing for the turnaround plan but many investors have continued to unload the shares.
Atos shares closed up 10.6% on Sept 29 but the stock remains down by around 77 percent so far in 2022.
($1 = 1.0219 euros)
(Reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Marc Angrand/Jean-Stephane Brosse/Sudip Kar-Gupta)