CEO Yves Bernaert steps down as CEO of Atos. Paul Saleh, former CFO, will take his place. Atos is also demanding 500 million euros more from potential Czech investors.

French software company Atos has struggled in recent months. The company was split in two and a Czech billionaire came forward looking for new investors. This raised concerns among French judges and has now led to a new proposal in which Atos is demanding more than 500 million euros more than initially discussed. Atos also elected its fifth new CEO in just 2.5 years this week. Paul Saleh will succeed Yves Bernaert, who was at the helm for just four months.

Talks about a possible takeover of the company are taking their toll. Last year, a potential investor introduced itself, namely EP Equity Investment, owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

The deal has not yet been completed, but Atos comes forward and demands more than 500 million euros more than originally provided for in the terms. National concerns about non-French investors could be behind this sudden increase.

Splits

In 2022, Atos was split into two companies. So the first part remained with Atos, the core of which was the Atos Tech Foundations (ATF) branch. These include data center, hosting, digital workplace and unified communications. The second part was called Eviden and includes components related to digital, big data and security. Both companies were looking for investors and Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky got in touch. This raised major national security concerns among French judges, as it involved a non-French investor.