Thales could be tempted by Atos defence assets, says CFO

By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) -French defence group Thales opened the door on Tuesday to buying part of the strategic assets of troubled IT company Atos while Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky also prepares an offer, BFM Business reported.

The government has made a provisional offer to acquire various strategically important assets from Atos, including its Advanced Computing, Mission-Critical Systems and Cyber Products divisions, and said it would also seek industrial partners.

Thales, which is partially owned by the state, has repeatedly said it is not interested in the Atos computing assets known as Big Data & Security (BDS) because they do not fit its fast-expanding civil cybersecurity business.

But asked whether the situation had changed after the government's intervention and search for potential partners, Thales finance chief Pascal Bouchiat said his company could look at limited defence-related assets if they became available.

"We are not interested in BDS," Bouchiat told reporters. "It's true that inside BDS, which is essentially a cybersecurity services activity, there is another activity ... related to defence and security."

Speaking at a quarterly sales media briefing, he added: "If at some point this particular defence and security business, which is a minority of BDS, were on sale, then we would not object to looking at it."

He declined to comment on whether the government had approached Thales.

Atos shares have lost about 90% of their value over the past two years, hit by a string of profit warnings, CEO departures and the collapse of potential asset sales.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Sunday said he was working to convince unspecified industrial companies to invest in the strategic Atos businesses, which provide super-computing and cryptography to France's military and secret services.

Media reports have also said that planemaker Dassault Aviation, the biggest industrial shareholder in Thales, is also seen as a potential partner.

Dassault Aviation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky, who recently took over French supermarket chain Casino, will also make an offer for Atos, the BFM Business report said, citing unnamed sources.

Atos and Kretinsky previously discussed the takeover of the Tech Foundations division, which comprises the French group's IT consulting activities, but talks collapsed in February.

A representative for Kretinsky declined to comment.

France's Onepoint, the largest Atos shareholder with 11.4% of capital, is also preparing an offer along with investment company Butler Industries.

Atos, which has been in refinancing talks with its banks for several weeks, said on Monday that it needed 1.1 billion euros in cash to fund operations over 2024-2025. That was up from a 600 million euro estimate given in early April.

(Reporting by Tim HepherAdditional reporting by Blandine HenaultEditing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and David Goodman)