Atos Starts Talks to Sell Legacy Unit to Czech Billionaire

Atos SE has begun exclusive discussions to sell a legacy division to a private equity firm run by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, taking another step toward an overhaul that will split the European software firm.

(Bloomberg) — Atos SE has begun exclusive discussions to sell a legacy division to a private equity firm run by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, taking another step toward an overhaul that will split the European software firm.

Atos, which posted a net loss in the first half, is in talks to offload the Tech Foundations business to Kretinsky’s EP Equity Investment, the company said in a statement. As part of a deal under negotiation, Atos will get a net €100 million ($110 million) in cash and transfer €1.9 billion in balance sheet liabilities to the buyer, it said.

Atos is the process of splitting into a legacy IT services unit that will keep the company’s name and Eviden, which is made up of its cybersecurity, cloud and supercomputing businesses. It said the two are now fully operational as separate entities within the Atos Group, ahead of the listing of Eviden planned later this year.

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