Atos shuffles board, explores further divestment for maturing debt

Chicago, Jan. 3 – Atos SE provided a broad market update related to debt with maturities that start later in the year, according to a press release.

Specifically, the company is looking at a €1.5 billion term loan A due in January 2025, €500 million of bonds due November 2024, €750 million of bonds due May 2025, a €900 million revolver due November 2025, €350 million in bonds due in November 2028 and €800 million of bonds due in November 2029.

The company noted that it has two possible six-month extensions on the term loan A, the first of which will take effect on Jan. 29, 2024.

Atos is exploring the following actions to address the upcoming debt maturities: obtaining new bank financing; accessing the capital markets for debt and/or equity; implementing a major asset disposal program; or, optimizing working capital, particularly at half-year and annual closings, including continued factoring.

Update

In terms of the update, Atos continues to negotiate with EP Equity Investment on the sale of its infrastructure business, Tech Foundations.

Atos is now exploring the sale of its Big Data & Security business, including possibly the entire business perimeter to Airbus. Discussions, at a preliminary stage, with Airbus for the entire business are in the €1.5 billion to €1.8 billion area.

The company is working with banks to maintain financing and obtain refinancings, and pointedly will not rule out the use of available legal protection mechanisms to frame those discussions. However, the company is also working with debt providers to avoid a potential downgrade on the group’s credit rating.

Atos will also assess whether these measures are sufficient to cover financing maturities and cash requirements on a long-term basis during the first quarter of 2024.

The company announced the appointment of Francoise Mercadal-Delasales and Jean-Jacques Morin to its board of directors, in order to strengthen its skills in the strategic areas of finance and major transformation projects. Four members of the board announced their decisions to resign from the board.

Atos hosted a conference call on Wednesday which will be available for replay.

Atos is an information technology services company based in Bezons, France.

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