France makes 700-mln-euro offer for Atos security units

PARIS

Debt-laden tech group Atos said on June 14 the French state has made a 700-million-euro bid for its most sensitive businesses, including cybersecurity and supercomputers used for the country's nuclear deterrent.

The offer, equivalent to $750 million, comes weeks after Paris said it would not allow the French company's strategic activities from being taken over by foreign actors.

"We kept our word. I always said that we had to preserve Atos' strategic activities," French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told Franceinfo radio.

"We have taken our responsibilities to buy, with other companies that could be partners, the strategic activities of Atos and guarantee that these strategic activities remain under the total or partial control of the state and public authorities," Le Maire said.

Paris is seeking to acquire the group's activities in advanced computing, mission-critical systems and cybersecurity.

The company had said in late April that these businesses were valued between 700 million and one billion euros.

The offer also comes three days after Atos chose a financial rescue offer from a consortium led by its main shareholder, French-owned IT consultancy Onepoint, over a bid from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

Atos shares soared more than 20 percent following the June 14 announcement, though the stock price has lost a fifth of its value since the start of the work.

Atos, which holds contracts with the French army and is the IT partner for the Paris Olympics, is sagging under almost five billion euros of debt.

The group confirmed on June 14 its goal of reaching a definitive bailout deal with the Onepoint consortium that would be implemented by July.