Jean-Louis Bouchard, founder and chairman of Econocom, explained on Friday why he had chosen to support the proposed takeover of Atos by the Onepoint group.

In a press release, the CEO described the approach taken by David Layani, Onepoint's CEO, as 'ambitious, courageous and guided by a good knowledge of Atos and the IT services industry'.

These are elements which, in his view, have been lacking since Thierry Breton left the management of Atos.

For the record, the offer submitted at the beginning of the month by the Onepoint consortium is structured around three priorities, namely to protect and retain all the Group's assets, to return to a path of profitable growth as soon as possible, and to restructure debt.

On this last point, Jean-Louis Bouchard emphasizes that Econocom's real control of its bank debt is an asset that can serve the interests of Atos' turnaround.

Bouchard adds that Econocom also intends to enable the consortium to benefit from its relationship of trust with investment bankers and refinancers.

"As is often the case in the world of IT services and finance, Atos and Econocom have been working together for over 40 years, both competitors and associates," says Bouchard.

The businessman points out that the two groups are currently working in partnership on major outsourcing and equipment financing tenders.

As a reminder, the takeover project supported by the consortium led by Onepoint is also backed by the investment company Butler Industries, which itself invested in Econocom's capital a few years ago.

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