Atos staves off bankruptcy, casts wider net for refinancing

Another project to raise €1.8 billion from the sale of its big data and security activities to aircraft manufacturer Airbus fell through in March.

Neither of those sales would have fixed the underlying profitability problem. Indeed, the Airbus deal could even have aggravated it by parting with some of Atos’ most lucrative activities.

Interim solution

As an interim measure, Atos bondholders have agreed to provide a €100 million revolving credit facility, while its banks have offered to provide up to €300 million through a factoring facility — providing an advance on accounts receivable. That, Atos said, should be enough to keep it afloat until it has a longer-term plan in place.

The French government has also offered a $50 million short-term loan to Atos subsidiary Bull, conditional on it continuing to deliver on certain contracts important to French national security. That offer, though, comes with other strings attached, including being first in line for repayment, and getting a veto on any transfer of ownership of the national security activities in the event a refinancing plan is agreed. Other customers will have to take their chances.

Long-term prospects

In the longer term, it’s still unclear whether Atos can turn things around. It recently reported its full-year results for 2023, after delaying twice to give auditors time to examine an independent business review report and to complete their audit of non-cash goodwill impairment charges.

In 2023, the company made a net loss of €3.4 billion on revenue of €10.7 billion, compared to a net loss of €1 billion on revenue of €11.3 billion in 2022.