Atos charges at Bull in €620m takeover

IT services giant claims acquisition will make it the number-one European cloud outfit

Bull directors have approved a €620m (£501.5m) acquisition bid by Atos in a move the latter claims will create Europe's top cloud services player.

The deal was brought to the table over the weekend, with Bull's directors giving their full and unanimous support on Sunday.

The French services giant will pay €4.90 per Bull share – a 22 per cent premium over the firm's €4.01 closing price on Friday, which was its final day of trading before the takeover bid.

Atos, which is headquartered in the Paris area not far from Bull's main base, said it hopes the deal will catapult it to the top of the European cloud and security industries.

"The combination will create the number-one European player in cloud operations and a leading cybersecurity solutions provider," Atos said. "Bull will bring critical and complementary capabilities in big data which, combined with Atos solutions, will create a unique offering in this high-growth segment."

It added that once the transaction is complete, it will boost its position in the manufacturing, healthcare and public sector markets as well as reinforce the company's footprint across Europe, Africa and Brazil.

Last week Bull told CRN how its business in the UK had flourished after it put its staff at the centre of its operations and focused on ensuring that each employee understood their contribution to the bigger picture.

Its chairman Philippe Vannier said the Atos deal will accelerate its staff-centric mission.

"Bull will strongly benefit from joining Atos, one of the most successful global IT companies, in order to accelerate [our] 'One Bull' strategic plan implementation," he said. "I'm looking forward to being part of this new development within which each member of staff will add their own value. Together with Atos we share the same passion for business technology."

But analyst TechMarketView expressed doubts about the value of the takeover. Writing in the analyst's UKHotViews newsletter, managing partner Anthony Miller claimed Atos "felt they had to buy something – anything" after losing out in a bid to buy Steria.

"The Atos PR machine has gone into overdrive, presenting the €620m acquisition as an opportunity to create ‘a leading player in cloud, cybersecurity and big data, and the European global leader in high-performance computing'," he said.

"And here's me thinking that what they had actually bought was a low-margin, cash-burning French infrastructure services veteran."