Atos reveals Airbus offer of up to €1.8bn for BDS arm, shares rise

The French company also received a second offer for part of the unit

French services firm Atos has revealed the multi-billion Euro offer from Airbus for its big data & security (BDS) business, bumping shares slightly.

Word of an offer first circulated in January last year.

Atos says it has received an indicative offer from the aircraft manufacturer of €1.5bn to €1.8bn for the entire business and will open a due diligence phase with Airbus.

It added discussions with Airbus are currently at a preliminary stage and will progress. Atos will update the market on their outcome in due course.

The French firm also received a second offer for part of BDS's perimeter, but did not reveal the possible buyer.

Following its market update, shares in Atos grew more than ten per cent, according to Reuters, giving a glimmer of hope that 2024 may be a turnaround year for the group.

Update on Tech Foundations sale

In August, Atos entered negotiations to sell its Tech Foundations (TFCo) business to EP Equity Investment (EPEI) as part of its planned split.

In a conference call this morning, Atos chief financial officer Paul Saleh gave the latest on this potential deal.

"Our ongoing exclusive negotiations with EPEI are continuing to progress. This is for the sale of Tech Foundations.

"There are a number of topics that we are in discussions with them on and it's taking longer than we had originally anticipated, and we want to continue to stress that there's no certainty that an agreement can be arranged.

"But we continue to progress in those discussions."