AIR Airbus SE

By Adria Calatayud

Airbus is in talks to buy Atos's cybersecurity unit BDS, with an indicative offer that values the business at up to 1.8 billion euros ($1.97 billion) including debt.

The move comes nearly a year after the European plane maker's bid to take a minority stake in the Atos division that houses the cybersecurity unit fell through.

French IT group Atos said Wednesday that it is in preliminary discussions with Airbus over a potential sale of all of its BDS business, and that it will now open a due diligence phase. Airbus's indicative offer is for an enterprise value of between EUR1.5 billion and EUR1.8 billion, Atos said.

Airbus confirmed it submitted a nonbinding proposal in relation to a potential acquisition of Atos's big data and security business. Discussions remain subject to due diligence and there can be no certainty that they will result in a transaction, the company said.

The French plane maker said the acquisition of BDS could enhance its defense and security portfolio with strong capabilities in cybersecurity, advanced computing and artificial intelligence.

Atos said it received two letters indicating nonbinding interest in BDS, one of which relates only to part of the unit's operations.

The company is considering additional asset sales after changing market conditions forced it to reduce the size of a planned capital increase for Eviden, the division that includes BDS. A potential deal could help Atos cut debt.

Atos said it is continuing talks to sell its Tech Foundations division to EP Equity Investment, an investment company steered by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, but that there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached.

The company said it doesn't rule out the sale of additional assets, particularly if the transaction with EPEI doesn't go ahead.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 03, 2024 02:30 ET (07:30 GMT)

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