PARIS (Reuters) – The chief executive of Onepoint, the leading shareholder of troubled Atos, said on Monday he was prepared to head a rescue plan for the tech group to protect “the integrity of its assets”, but Atos said it had not discussed any such plan.
The French Finance Ministry said last week that France would use all the means at its disposal to guarantee the protection of the strategic assets of Atos after planemaker Airbus pulled the plug on a deal to buy the ailing company’s cybersecurity assets.
That latest setback for Atos came just weeks after the collapse of a deal to raise urgently-needed cash through the sale of Atos’s legacy operations to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
“One must imediately stop all plans to sell assets and protect the integrity of the assets through building a New One Atos that starts again on a sound basis,” David Layani, chief executive of Onepoint, told Le Figaro newspaper.
Onepoint, which holds 11.4% of Atos, was ready “to invest and organise the group’s capital restructuring,” he said, adding his plan was “the best solution to (Finance Minister) Bruno Le Maire’s concerns”
Atos said in statement on Monday it was taking note of Layani’s comments, stressing that no Onepoint plan had been presented to its board.
If a plan was presented to Atos board, it “will be able to analyse it and communicate its position in due course” it added.
Atos will communicate on its 2023 results and next steps on March 26.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Michael Perry)
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