Takeover, Bid, Atos Origin
No takeover bid yet for Atos Origin
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Atos Origin has confirmed that it received takeover interest after its shares were suspended late last month, following reports of a €4bn private equity approach aimed at breaking it up.
News provided by Top-Consultant.com
Shares in the company, which is the official supplier of computer services for the Beijing Olympics, saw the biggest gain in at least 15 years, following speculations of a takeover.
The shares jumped €9.95, or 25%, to €49.50 in Paris, after Atos Origin said it received “expressions of interest”. No bid was made, however, after Dow Jones reported London-based buyout firm Permira Holdings and hedge fund Centaurus Capital had offered €58 a share.
“Despite expressions of interest made to it that did not constitute offers, the company is not engaged in any financial operation with respect to its share capital,” Atos Origin said.
A week following the initial reports, Atos Origin issued a statement saying that its Supervisory and Management Boards have decided to explore strategic options in response to "expressions of interest" from potential buyers.
Atos Origin expects the process will take place in a short timeframe in order to avoid any disruption to its operations. The company has retained Rothschild and Goldman Sachs as its financial advisors in this process.
Atos Origin cautions that this exploration of strategic options may or may not lead to a transaction and that the company remains focused on the execution of its transformation plan as a means of creating value for shareholders regardless of the outcome of this process.
The company said it doesn't intend to disclose developments unless and until the Supervisory and Management Boards have approved a specific transaction or decided to terminate that process.
It was the second time in six months that the IT services firm, which has made no secret of its willingness to be taken over at the right price, denied a report of a pending offer. The computer-services provider said in October it wasn't in buyout talks, after London newspaper City A.M. reported that Blackstone Group LP was close to buying the company for between €51 and €54 a share.
After two sales warnings in 2006, in February of this year Atos Origin said it plans to spend €270m through 2009 to cut costs and improve profitability by tripling its computer-services and software installing facilities in low-cost countries such as India.
Analysts say private equity firms would be particularly interested in activities that can be spun off such as Atos Euronext Market Solutions, a joint venture with stock market operator Euronext, and Atos Worldline, which specialises in financial outsourcing.
That would leave behind core activities including the IT system used to relay results, events and athlete information to spectators and media during the summer and winter Olympics. Atos has contracts for Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.
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