Airbus keen on being Evidian’s key investor
PARIS, FRANCE — Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is keen on becoming a major investor in cybersecurity firm Atos’ identity and access management software Evidian.
Reuters reports that if the investment materializes, it would make Airbus the key industrial partner of Evidian and give it a say over the new entity, which regroups Atos’ most coveted assets such as cybersecurity division BDS and supercomputers.
Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said airspace has been increasingly driven by big data, connectivity and high-power computing.
“So there is a lot of complementarity and synergy with what Evidian is doing,” he told a results news conference on Thursday, adding: “Of course, on the condition that this makes sense from a financial standpoint, and that’s what we want to be able to judge.”
Atos, whose clients include France’s administration and army, would in return secure a much-needed investment from a European industrial group as it strives to carry out its split-up plan after a troubled period marked by a governance crisis, heavy losses and sharp stock price swings.
Airbus has reportedly offered to acquire 29.9% stake in Evidian.
The “indicative offer” for the stake — short of the 30% threshold that would automatically trigger a full bid on the entity — was not disclosed. The talks are not exclusive, Atos said.
Atos values Evidian at about 7 billion euros, including a 3-billion-euro debt, a source familiar with the matter said.
