Atos has announced that negotiations with EP Equity Investment (EPEI) to sell its Tech Foundations business have broken down as “the transaction terms and price have not been mutually agreed.”
The company said in its latest market update that it continues to consider “strategic options” that are best for customers, employees and shareholders.
An Atos spokesperson said: CRN Tech Foundations says it is still part of its asset sale plan, but for now the reseller will continue to operate the Tech Foundations and Eviden businesses separately and will “leverage the strengths of each service with a coordinated go-to-market strategy.” ”.
First of all, Athos We have entered into discussions with EPEI. Regarding the possibility of a sale in August.
The market update reported that overall revenue increased by 0.4% to €10.7 billion, with the Eviden business contributing 2.9%.
Explaining the reason for the growth, Athos said, “Eviden is focused on high-growth technology areas such as cybersecurity and digital platforms.”
Meanwhile, Tech Foundations saw organic revenue decline 1.7%. This was a slight improvement from the third quarter results. Tech Foundations’ organic revenue decreased 7.2%..
“Essentially, the tech foundation business is in decline and requires restructuring investments with a focused and optimized portfolio,” the French resale giant said.
Reflecting lower working capital activity and higher restructuring costs, Atos also reported free cash flow of -1,078 million euros in 2023.
Net debt was 2.2 billion euros at the end of 2023, consisting of cash, cash equivalents, short-term financial assets of 2.4 billion euros and borrowings of 4.6 billion euros.
Resellers remain within the borrowing terms and conditions applicable to bank loans, with a leverage ratio (net debt divided by pre-IFRS 16 OMDA) of 3.75x at the end of December 2023 compared to the bank terms and conditions. It became 3.34 times.
Earlier this year, Atos revealed that: Paul Saleh appointed as 6th CEO in 6 years After a “period of intense change” under outgoing CEO Yves Bernard.
Bernert announced he was resigning “due to disagreements regarding governance to align and execute strategy.”