The French government is in negotiations with struggling IT firm Atos to buy the company's advanced computing activities for €500 million.
Atos’ advanced computing business includes its high-performance computing (HPC) and quantum operations, as well as the business computing and AI divisions. It currently employs around 2,500 staff, with a revenue of around €570 million in 2023.
After other acquisition attempts by private firms - along with an earlier non-binding offer by the government - failed, the new offer aims to have a share purchase agreement signed by the end of May, when an exclusivity period ends.
The initial payment would be €150 million, according to reports. The new deal, which could potentially rise to €625 million to include earn-outs, would see the acquisition of 100% of BDS’s advanced computing activities.
This is a narrower offer than the last one, which also included Atos's mission critical system and cybersecurity products businesses.
Under the new deal, Atos would commit to launch a formal sale process for these latter businesses, which it said generated revenue of around €340 million in 2023. Potential buyers will need to be approved by the French government.
With Atos restructuring to try and deal with its debts, the French government is keen to keep the company's technology within the country.
Its operations include security for the French military and secret services, as well as high-performance servers and supercomputers. All these, the French government said, are critical technologies with applications that are essential for the country's sovereignty.
Atos is also a supplier to critical industries including nuclear facilities, along with last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
"The opening of exclusive discussions between the State and Atos constitutes a crucial first step, not only for the recovery and restructuring of the group but also for securing the strategic activity of supercomputers," said Antoine Armand, minister of economy, finance and industry in a statement.
"It is the role of the state to guarantee, as a shareholder when justified, the sustainability and development of the most strategic industrial activities for our sovereignty."
After a bid from IT firm Onepoint was pulled earlier this year, a French court last month approved Atos’s restructuring plan, allowing it to keep operating and giving creditors control of the company.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Atos agreed to sell its Worldgrid unit to French engineering consultancy Alten SA for €270 million.
"Atos' acceptance of this offer allows the opening of an in-depth audit phase, the objective of which is to conclude an acquisition contract in the coming months, which will have to be validated by the competent court as part of the ongoing safeguard plan," said the Ministry of Finance.
"The other sovereign activities of the Atos group are already adequately protected through the agreement and the preferential share granted to the State. Their sale will be carried out by Atos as part of a separate process and on the basis of a list of possible buyers approved by the State."
