Airbus in 'advanced' talks with Atos over unit BDS -Le Figaro (updated)

Goldman Sachs BDC

15/12/2023 10:59

(Recasts with detail from Le Figaro report; adds background on
Airbus' previous interest in paragraph 5-6)
       Dec 15 (Reuters) - Airbus  AIR.PA , the world's biggest
planemaker, is in "advanced" talks with Atos'  ATOS.PA  over the
IT consulting firm's cybersecurity division BDS, French
newspaper Le Figaro reported on Thursday, prompting Atos' shares
to rise. 
    Airbus and Atos' board of directors are holding "bilateral
talks", Le Figaro added, citing sources.    
    In late March, Airbus said it had decided not to make an
offer for a 29.9% stake in Atos' division Evidian, which was
renamed Eviden. BDS is part of Eviden. 
    Airbus was not immediately available for comment. Atos
declined to comment. 
    Even as it pulled out of the Eviden deal in March, Airbus
CEO Guillaume Faury said it was still open to a strategic
partnership with Atos. 
    Faury had previously said that a deal would make sense
because aerospace was increasingly driven by big data,
connectivity and high-power computing. 
    The stumbling block on Atos is one of the reasons Airbus
opted to reorganise itself from 2024, industry sources have
said, leaving Faury free to focus on defence and space strategy
with Christian Scherer taking over the planemaking arm.
    Airbus is concerned that its position in an increasingly
software-focused defence industry would be at risk if the Atos
activities were absorbed by a rival such as Thales  TCFP.PA ,
one of the sources said.
    Thales has denied being interested in buying a stake in
Eviden. 

 (Reporting by Tim Hepher, Mathieu Rosemain and Michal
Aleksandrowicz in Gdansk; editing by Jason Neely)
 ((gdansk.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 66 00;))