Sources say Kretinsky is weighing changes to Atos’ bid to win over creditors

PARIS: Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is considering options to try to persuade creditors to side with him in the fight for Atos, the troubled IT company seeking Develop a debt restructuring plan by May 31.

One option being considered is allowing creditors to take a stake in Atos’ legacy IT infrastructure management services business, sources said. The move will give creditors exposure to the economic risks of emerging entities.

Kretinsky’s EP Equity Investment (EPEI) vehicle, in partnership with British fund Attestor, has so far offered to wipe out more than 90% of Atos’ 4.8 billion euros ($5.2 billion) financial debt and sell a majority stake in the company, with the proceeds distributed partly to creditors .

As part of the plan, Kretinsky-Attestor will inject 600 million euros in cash in exchange for nearly full ownership of Atos, according to a document detailing the initial offer published on Atos’s website two weeks ago.

The consortium faces French IT consultancy Onepoint, led by Atos’ largest shareholder David Layani, which along with other partners such as Butler Industries offers creditors a smaller debt reduction and cash infusion, a stake in Atos and the retention of assets. Atos’ assets exceed those already identified by the French government.

Spokespeople for Kretinsky, Atos and Onepoint declined to comment.

Some Atos bondholders and bank lenders said in the third offer that they support so-called “cornerstone investors” taking a stake in Atos as long as the investor does not sell assets, a stance consistent with Layani’s.

The Kretinsky-Prover camp, for its part, expressed deep concern that Atos’s business conditions were worse than expected and that a significant reduction in debt was needed to protect the company.

Once a flagship technology company in France’s blue-chip CAC-40 stock index, Atos grew rapidly through acquisitions but then suffered strategic missteps amid shaky corporate governance, causing its share price to drop more than 90% over the past three years. .

A mediator has been hired to help find new funding and restructure the group’s debts.

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