Gemalto considering Atos 4.3 billion euros bid

French IT service group Atos has made an unsolicited offer to acquire Gemalto for 4.3 billion euros ($5.06 billion), or 46 euros a share, dividend included. Atos claims to have secured the backing of the France’s state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, which holds an 8.3 per cent stake in Gemalto, for the deal.

Gemalto’s board said on Tuesday that the company has until Friday to review the unsolicited all-cash bid. “The company subsequently informed Atos that it would carefully review the proposal and respond to it before such date,” it said in a statement.

Thierry Breton, Atos chairman and CEO said yesterday: “We believe that a combination of Atos and Gemalto would result in enhanced global leadership in cybersecurity, digital technologies and services and in the strengthening of our positioning as a leading European payment services provider.”

The company also said the preservation of Gemalto’s strong R&D capabilities and skills is also key to Atos. By joining forces, the two groups will benefit from increased scale and relevance and create a formidable innovation powerhouse, notably by capitalizing on the adjacencies between digital security, payments, machine learning and quantum computing. Atos also expects the combined group to capitalize on Gemalto’s recognized brand, viewed as a strong asset.

Just last month, Gemalto entered into a partnership with the Center for Identity at the University of Texas at Austin to further efforts in research and education on identity management, privacy and security.

Article Topics

acquisitions  |  biometrics  |  Gemalto  |  stocks