Atos - comment

Into the final straight, and three becomes two.   The race will likely end on Thursday, with Atos to issue a further statement on Thursday updating on further discussions.  EPEI/Attestor have resubmitted their bid, which in principle, is broadly the same.  Creditors and OnePoint/Butler have joined together and submitted a combined offer.  

We are going through the two offers in detail.  The proposal from EPEI/Attestor equates to a larger debt write down, c.10% cash pay down, 50% of disposal proceeds from WorldGrid and “Sensitive Activities” in excess of €1bn and c.8% of convertible bonds.  The creditor/OnePoint/Butler proposal consists of a higher new money injection of €250m in equity form and €1.5bn of new debt, 60% of existing debt converted into equity with various rankings for remaining debt depending on the provision of new money.  OnePointConsortium is attaining 21% of the equity for their €175m injection, with David Layani to be installed as the new CEO. 

But which offer wins?  With creditors as the ultimate judge, it could be claimed to be already decided.  The Bondholder SteerCo represents 36% of the total outstanding bonds, with a wider group holding 60% combined, and together with the ECB 80% of the outstanding bonds.  The only concern is no mention of what percentage of the banks are involved in the discussions.