The story
History
The company was formed in 1997 through a merger of two French IT companies; and combined with the Dutch-based company Origin B.V. in 2000 to become Atos Origin. It subsequently acquired KPMG Consulting's UK and Netherlands business in 2002 and SchlumbergerSema in 2004.
In 2010 Atos Origin announced the buyout of Siemens IT Solutions and Services and finalized the acquisition in July 2011. Afterwards, the company name reverted to Atos.
From 2022 to 2024 there were negotiations with Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský to sell Atos for about $2 billion, which ended in failure in February 2024.
Background: a series of mergers
In 1996, Origin B.V. was created after a merger of the Dutch company BSO and the Philips C&P (Communications & Processing) division, while a year later in 1997, Atos was created following a merger of the French companies Axime and Sligos. In 2001, Atos Origin sold its Nordic operations to WM-data. In 2002, it made a major acquisition by buying KPMG Consulting in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. Then in 2004, it acquired SchlumbergerSema, the IT service division of Schlumberger and took over the infrastructure division of ITELLIUM, a subsidiary of KarstadtQuelle.
At the same time (2004), the company created a new subsidiary, Atos Worldline, and the renaming of its consulting activities as Atos Consulting. Also in 2004, Atos Origin Australia, originating from Philips, was sold to Fujitsu. In 2005, Atos Origin sold its activities in the Nordic region, which had become part of the company with the acquisition of Sema Group, to WM-data while in 2006, Atos Origin sold its operations in the Middle East to local management.
In October 2007, Philippe Germond replaced longtime CEO Bernard Bourigeaud. Two shareholders, the hedge funds Centaurus Capital and Pardus Capital, tried to gain control over the company via the supervisory board. In November 2008, the boardroom battle came to an end when Thierry Breton replaced Philippe Germond as chairman and CEO.
Siemens IT
In December 2010 Atos Origin agreed to acquire the IT subsidiary of Siemens for €850 million. As part of the transaction, Siemens agreed to take a 15% stake in the enlarged Atos, to be held for a minimum of five years.
The company dropped the "Origin" suffix of its name in July 2011 after completing its acquisition of the Siemens unit. This was said to stand for "Atos to Siemens" hence the logo contains a capitalised S (AtoS).
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In November 2011 Atos and software services provider Ufida International Holdings formed the joint venture Yunano. The two companies invested €5.7 million. Atos has 70 percent and UFIDA has 30 percent. The joint venture has its HQ in Bezons, France, a suburb of Paris. In 2012 Atos announced the creation of a new company called Canopy. The CEO is Philippe Llorens. In 2011 Atos introduced a Zero Email initiative, banning email as a form of internal communications, except for use with customers and prospects. As part of the initiative, Atos acquired the French software company blueKiwi in early 2012, rolling out its ZEN social networking software across its organisation.
Bull
In August 2014, Atos announced that it had acquired a controlling stake in Bull SA through a tender offer launched in May. Atos announced plans in October 2014 to buy out or squeeze out the remaining share and bondholders of Bull. In March 2026, Atos Group sold Bull SA to the French government.
Xerox ITO
On 19 December 2014 Atos announces the acquisition of Xerox's IT Outsourcing business for US$1,050,000,000, tripling the size of the North American business. At the time of the acquisition, the unit generated US$376,000,000 (Q3 2014) and had 9,800 employees operating in 45 countries.
Syntel
In October 2018, the company accelerated its expansion in North America with the US$3,570,000,000 (including debt) acquisition of Syntel, a company with activities in banking, financial services, healthcare, retail and insurance.
Google Cloud
In April 2018, Atos announced a global partnership with Google Cloud to help offer secure artificial intelligence systems. As part of this partnership, the two companies would create common offerings and open "labs" dedicated to artificial intelligence in London, Dallas, Munich and Paris.
Worldline
In 2019, the company divested from Worldline, its payment subsidiary, as part of its strategy to become a "digital pure player". The company gradually sold its shares, retaining only a 3.82% stake in Worldline as at April 2020.
On 1 November 2019, Elie Girard replaced Thierry Breton as chief executive officer, following Breton's appointment as European Commissioner for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.
Maven Wave
In December 2019, Atos acquired Maven Wave, a US-based Google Cloud Premier Partner specialising in cloud and mobile applications, data analytics, experience design and cloud infrastructure.
Joliot-Curie
In June 2020, Atos, GENCI and CEA revealed the "Joliot-Curie" supercomputer which would help in academic and industrial open research.
Failed acquisition bid for DXC
In February 2021, Atos ended talks for a potential acquisition of DXC Technology. Atos has proposed for US$10 billion including debt for acquisition.
Eviden
In April 2023, Atos launched the Eviden brand ahead of a €5 billion carve-out. Following the launch of the brand, the main areas of focus for Atos were data centers and hosting, digital workplaces, unified communications and business process outsourcing. Eviden will focus on professional services and consulting, bringing together Atos' digital, big data and security divisions. However, this division had still not been approved by the board of directors in November 2023. As of August 2023, the Eviden brand remains a wholly owned subsidiary.
Financial difficulties
By early 2024, Atos was in financial difficulties. According to Le Monde, it had missed several sectoral shifts and "made a series of poor strategic decisions until it imploded", prompting the biggest French collapse of the last five years. Atos faced being "dismantled and wiped off the map", with its managed IT services division set to be acquired by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, and its cybersecurity and supercomputer expertise going to Airbus, leaving its digital consulting business to go to Onepoint. In April 2024, it reported total debts of almost €5 billion, and was exploring financial restructuring options to stabilise its finances; in May 2024, Atos was considering four competing bids to inject new money into the firm. The value of the company's shares had dropped 97%, and it had had four chief executives in two years. In June, discussions about a rescue deal with a consortium led by its biggest shareholder, Onepoint, broke down and Atos began negotiations with bondholders about a new restructuring deal. On 4 July 2024, Atos announced a restructuring plan which involved conversion of about €2.8 billion of debt into equity, with creditors also contributing €233 million of new equity. It aimed to complete all restructuring operations by the end of 2024.
In October 2024, the French government planned to acquire Atos' advanced computing division for €500 million, potentially reaching €625 million with earn-outs. This deal aimed to protect strategic technologies and stabilize Atos amid financial challenges.
2014 Commonwealth Games
Atos was named as an official supporter of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. On 26 June 2013, "Glasgow Against Atos" occupied one of the Commonwealth Games venues in protest against Atos sponsorship.
2015 Southeast Asian Games
Atos was the official sponsor of 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.
2018 European Championships
In February 2017 Atos was appointed as the first official sponsor of the Glasgow 2018 European Championships. The company has been awarded a £2.5 million contract for timing, scoring and results.
From Wikipedia’s article on Atos, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5