Atos

Atos is a European multinational information technology (IT) service and consulting company headquartered in Bezons, France and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services, unified communications, cloud, big data and cybersecurity services. Atos operates worldwide under the brands Atos, Atos, Syntel, Atos Consulting, Atos Healthcare, Atos Worldgrid, Groupe Bull, Canopy, Maven Wave, and Unify.

History

The company was formed in 1997 through a merger of two French IT companies; and combined with the Dutch-based company Origin B.V. in 2000 to become Atos Origin. It subsequently acquired KPMG Consulting in 2002 and SchlumbergerSema in 2004.

In 2010 Atos Origin announced the buyout of Siemens IT Solutions and Services and finalized the acquisition in July 2011. Afterwards, the company name reverted to Atos.

Background: a series of mergers (1997–2011)

In 1996, Origin B.V. was created after a merger of the Dutch company BSO and the Philips C&P (Communications & Processing) division, while a year later in 1997, Atos was created following a merger of the French companies Axime and Sligos. In 2001, Atos Origin sold its Nordic operations to WM-data. In 2002, it made a major acquisition by buying KPMG Consulting in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. Then in 2004, it acquired SchlumbergerSema, the IT service division of Schlumberger and took over the infrastructure division of ITELLIUM, a subsidiary of KarstadtQuelle.

At the same time (2004), the company created a new subsidiary, Atos Worldline, and the renaming of its consulting activities as Atos Consulting. Also in 2004, Atos Origin Australia, originating from Philips, was sold to Fujitsu. In 2005, Atos Origin sold its activities in the Nordic region, which had become part of the company with the acquisition of Sema Group, to WM-data while in 2006, Atos Origin sold its operations in the Middle East to local management.

In October 2007, Philippe Germond replaced longtime CEO Bernard Bourigeaud. Two shareholders, the hedge funds Centaurus Capital and Pardus Capital, tried to gain control over the company via the supervisory board. In November 2008, the boardroom battle came to an end when Thierry Breton replaced Philippe Germond as chairman and CEO.

In August 2010 Atos Origin acquired Indian payment company Venture Infotek.

Siemens IT

In December 2010 Atos Origin agreed to acquire the IT subsidiary of Siemens for €850 million. As part of the transaction, Siemens agreed to take a 15% stake in the enlarged Atos, to be held for a minimum of five years.

The company dropped the "Origin" suffix of its name in July 2011 after completing its acquisition of the Siemens unit.

In November 2011 Atos and software services provider Ufida International Holdings formed the joint venture Yunano. The two companies invested €5.7 million. Atos has 70 percent and UFIDA has 30 percent. The joint venture has its HQ in Bezons, France, a suburb of Paris. In 2012 Atos announced the creation of a new company called Canopy. The CEO is Philippe Llorens. In 2011 Atos introduced a Zero Email initiative, banning email as a form of internal communications, except for use with customers and prospects. As part of the initiative, Atos acquired the French software company blueKiwi in early 2012, rolling out their ZEN social networking software across its organisation.

Bull

In August 2014, Atos announced that it had acquired a controlling stake in Bull SA through a tender offer launched in May. Atos announced plans in October 2014 to buy out or squeeze out the remaining share and bondholders of Bull.

Xerox ITO and Syntel

On 19 December 2014 Atos announces the acquisition of Xerox's IT Outsourcing business for , tripling the size of the North American business. At the time of the acquisition, the unit generated (Q3 2014) and had 9,800 employees operating in 45 countries.

In October 2018, the company accelerated its expansion in North America with the (including debt) acquisition of Syntel, a company with activities in banking, financial services, healthcare, retail and insurance.

Failed acquisition bid for DXC

In February 2021, Atos ended talks for a potential acquisition of DXC Technology. Atos has proposed for US$10 billion including debt for acquisition.

Google Cloud

In April 2018, Atos announced a global partnership with Google Cloud to help offer secure artificial intelligence systems. As part of this partnership, the two companies would create common offerings and open "labs" dedicated to artificial intelligence in London, Dallas, Munich and Paris.

In 2019, the company divested from Worldline, its payment subsidiary, as part of its strategy to become a "digital pure player". The company gradually sold its shares, retaining only a 3.82% stake in Worldline as at April 2020.

On 1 November 2019, Elie Girard replaced Thierry Breton as chief executive officer, following Breton's appointment as EU commissioner.

In December 2019, Atos acquired Maven Wave, a US-based Google Cloud Premier Partner specialising in cloud and mobile applications, data analytics, experience design and cloud infrastructure.

In June 2020, Atos, GENCI and CEA revealed the "Joliot-Curie" supercomputer which would help in academic and industrial open research.

Services and activities

Services

Atos activities are organized in four divisions:
* ''Infrastructure & Data Management'': Datacenter management, service desk and unified communications;
* ''Business Applications & Platform Solutions'': consulting and systems integration;
* ''Big Data & Cybersecurity'': production of high-performance computers & servers and cybersecurity;
* Worldline: e-commerce payment services and point of sale terminal applications

Geographies

United Kingdom

According to a National Audit Office report on the government's four biggest suppliers, Atos earned £700 million in revenue from the public sector in the UK in 2012; of £7.2 billion sales worldwide. Atos holds £3 billion worth of UK government contracts providing services to a wide range of organizations including NHS Scotland, Home Office, Welsh Government, the Ministry of Defence, Transport for Greater Manchester, the BBC
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