"Atos Statement in reaction to recent speculation"
In reaction to recent speculation, Atos confirms that the group has held friendly discussions with key stakeholders of Steria over the last few months, including with its CEO and its Chairman, concluding that there is a strong industrial rationale in a combination with Steria, with highly attractive prospects for all Steria stakeholders, including for its management and its employees, as well as a strong value creation potential for all shareholders of both companies.
In the context of this friendly approach, Atos sent an offer to the Chairman of Steria on April 4th, 2014, together with a cover letter offering Steria the possibility to revert to Atos by April 7th, 2014, to trigger the issuance of a signed binding offer, at the terms of 22 Euro per Steria share in cash. Such an amicable offer was perfectly in line with the Atos financial discipline and was highly accretive for Atos shareholders given identified synergies. In its offer, Atos paid particular attention to the “human capital” of Steria, including its management, employees and employee shareholders, one of the company’s main assets.
On April 7th, 2014, the Chairman of Steria Supervisory Board replied to the Atos letter stating that Steria Board “had not been in a position to assess the (Atos) offer”. Atos noted subsequently the announced merger proposal between Steria and Sopra.
Atos has then acknowledged in writing Steria’s willingness to pursue the proposed merger with Sopra and has indicated that, should Steria wish to reinstate the industrial project to join the Atos group, the Atos Board of Directors was ready to maintain the terms of its friendly offer, at 22 euros in cash per Steria share, to remain valid until the Sopra EGM on June 27th, 2014.
This friendly approach has been approved unanimously by the Atos Board of Directors and the French Regulator, AMF, has been informed of all these steps.
Contact
Investor Relations:
Gilles Arditti
Tel +33 (0) 1 73 26 00 66
gilles.arditti@atos.net
Press:
Caroline Crouch
Tel +44 77 333 100 86
caroline.crouch@atos.net
About Atos
Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is an international information technology services company with 2013 annual revenue of € 8.6 billion and 76,300 employees in 52 countries. Serving a global client base, it delivers IT services in 3 domains, Consulting & Technology Services, Systems Integration and Managed Services & BPO, and transactional services through Worldline. With its deep technology expertise and industry knowledge, it works with clients across the following market sectors: Manufacturing, Retail & Transportation; Public & Health; Financial Services; Telcos, Media & Utilities.
Atos is focused on business technology that powers progress and helps organizations to create their firm of the future. It is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and is quoted on the NYSE Euronext Paris market. Atos operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting & Technology Services, Worldline and Atos Worldgrid.