The group will split into two autonomous companies with, on the one hand, the activities growing in the cloud and cybersecurity and, on the other, the historic declining professions in outsourcing. Arrived in early January, the director general, Rodolphe Belmer, resigned with a bonus.
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He had arrived, in an emergency, in January, to try to restore a group losing sense. Less than six months later, Rodolphe Belmer throws in the towel. Atos announced Tuesday, June 14 in the morning the resignation of its managing director. At the origin of this brutal departure: the decision of the computer group to split into two separate entities, both listed on the stock market, with, on the one hand, the activities growing in the cloud and cybersecurity and, on the other, the historic trades in decline in the outsourcing.
If he says he does not want to criticize “the sovereign decision of the board of directors” of Atos to which he belonged, Rodolphe Belmer derives, with his resignation, the consequences of this radical choice. The separation of the group makes “my position as superfluous managing director,” he recognized during a press conference. He will stay in post until September 30, time to hand over to future managing directors of the two future entities: Philippe Oliva for the digital part, baptized Evidia; Nourdine Bihmane for historical activities called Tech Foundations. This organization must allow “to avoid intestine struggles”, hopes Mr. Belmer.
This split plan, on which the consulting firm McKinsey worked, must be finalized at the latest at the end of 2023. 70 % of Evidia’s capital will be distributed to the current ATOS shareholders. They can have actions as they see fit. Tech Foundations will keep 30 % of the capital. The sale, in a second step, on this residual part will be used to finance the restructuring of this entity, the cost of which is estimated at 1.1 billion euros.
sovereign and strategic
Once separated, the two entities could more easily interest buyers, especially Evidia. Several groups, such as Thales, Orange or Airbus have been running for several months around the Cloud and Cyber activities of Atos. Given the sovereign and strategic nature of these activities, the State will ensure that they remain in the hands of French shareholders. The declining professions could interest specialists in the reorganization of this type of activity, in particular investment funds.
The split is similar to a dismantling of Atos, in the form built by the former emblematic CEO of the group, Thierry Breton, who left in November 2019 at the European Commission. The future Evidia entity brings together a large part of the activities inherited from the buyout of Bull in 2014. The transplant with the historic professions has never really taken. Even if sales of services crossed between the two activities exist, the profits in digital or cyber were used above all to compensate for the consumption of cash from other activities. Despite a promising context, Atos’ turnover has been declining without discontinuing for two years. In 2021, its fall reached 4.3 % and sales were still crumbling by 2.4 % in the first quarter of 2022. In three years, Atos lost three-quarters of its stock market and is only worth 2 , 1 billion euros.
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