(Nov 25): The French government offered to buy advanced computing assets of Atos SE for as much as €625 million (RM2.91 billion) after an earlier state offer expired.

The non-binding bid values the business at €500 million and may include additional payments based on future earnings, the company said in a statement on Monday. The offer, which expires in May, includes Atos’s artificial intelligence business as well as its supercomputers, which are used by researchers, the nuclear power industry and the military.

Atos, a key supplier to major French industries including nuclear facilities and last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, has been working its way out of a debt pile that threatened its ability to continue operating. It’s currently undergoing a court-supervised takeover by its creditors who are seeking to recoup as much value as possible. The advanced computing assets, part of Atos’s Big Data & Security unit, are considered to be of strategic importance to the French state. 

The French government previously offered to buy the company’s supercomputers in a now-expired €700 million bid that also included cybersecurity assets from the BDS unit. Atos said it will launch a formal sale process for the remaining parts of BDS, including what it calls mission-critical systems and its cybersecurity offering.

The sale of the remaining parts of BDS will be “based on a list of potential buyers approved by the French government,” the French finance ministry said in a separate statement. French defence company Thales previously said it could be interested by some of the assets.

A French commercial court approved Atos’s restructuring plan last month, to give the company new money to keep operating and give creditors control of the company. 

Earlier this month, Atos agreed to sell its Worldgrid unit to French engineering and tech consultant Alten SA for €270 million including debt. 

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