Sources told Reuters that France’s Thales is working on a deal to buy Atos’ cybersecurity sector, which may be worth $3 billion, amid forecasts of French government opposition to any break-up.
According to the sources, Thales and its consultant Centerview Partners have approached a number of private equity companies, including Bain Capital, to discuss a possible combined offer for Atos (ATOS.PA) as part of a deal that might see it split up.
On the condition of anonymity, sources told Reuters that Thales, a French defense company, will buy BDS, a big data and cybersecurity firm.
After issuing two profit warnings in seven months, Atos’ stock dropped to its lowest level since mid-2012, making it an attractive target for private equity investors.
However, any sale would meet significant opposition in France, where President Emmanuel Macron’s government is hesitant of selling sensitive “national champions” like Atos to foreign investors as presidential elections approach in April.
“The French government will strongly oppose any break-up of Atos right now,” one of the sources said.
Thales’ advisers have also begun talks with CVC Capital Partners and PAI Partners over a possible joint bid for Atos but the timing of such a move remains unclear, another said.
Thales, Atos, Centerview, Bain, and PAI declined to comment while CVC was not immediately available.
The French finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thales and Atos recently formed Athea, a joint venture aimed at developing a sovereign big data and artificial intelligence platform for the public and private sectors, with an emphasis on defense, intelligence, and internal state security.
Thales has been planning to expand its cybersecurity activities since it purchased Dutch data protection business Gemalto for 4.8 billion euros in 2019, promising to build a global powerhouse in digital security.
Bain, which bought French IT services business Inetum for $2.27 billion in January, would utilize any combined buyout of Atos to expand its portfolio of tech assets in Europe, where it already owns Engineering Group in Italy.
