Stock market: how a company with a capital of 50 euros troubles Atos, the French giant of the CAC 40

Is anyone playing with the nerves of the Atos group, a French IT services giant? Are we trying to influence the price of this CAC 40 company? Speculation has been rife in the small world of finance for a few days. Blame it on the declaration of crossing the purchase threshold of just over 5% of the capital of the French company with turnover of 11 billion euros by a shareholder completely unknown to the battalion. On May 14, the company Finsur Corp declared to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) that it owned 5.08% of Atos' capital. An amount of action that would represent a trifle 300 million euros!

This is where the problem lies. Who is this mysterious investor in the market? This American holding company registered in Delaware, a sort of tax haven in the heart of the United States, has been registered in France with the Trade and Companies Register (RCS), via the registry of the Orléans court since 2019. “ FINSUR CORP, a foreign company registered with the RCS, started its activity in June 2019 ”, one can read on a specialized site. According to the initial statement, the said company had a share capital of $ 20 million. The legal representative in France of this company is named Dylan Dariah, only 26 years old, is domiciled in Beaugency, a small town in Loiret, near Orléans, at the same address as these companies. A young man whose LinkedIn profile, accessible a few days ago,has not been active since the controversy broke out.

The big problem is that the said company was delisted from the RCS on February 18, 2020. The day before, a new company called Tiniance Investment was created with the aim of the same activity and a status a little different from SASU (Société par actions simplified to single partner) but still with the same Dylan Dariah at the helm.

This time the share capital is only 50 euros!

It seems light to play with the big arm of the CAC 40… Even more astonishing, Finsur Corp is also considered as inactive on the other side of the Atlantic, because it has not even paid its registration fees of 225 dollars with the State of Delaware verified BFM Business.

Complaint by Atos to the PNF

This company does more than intrigue the markets and Atos has sounded the alarm bells with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. Because my French company is clearly circumspect. Especially since it has no information on this new mystery shareholder but is looking for some. The giant of the CAC 40 is worried above all about a "risk of manipulation of its course", Atos confirmed to the Parisian. “We did alert the AMF, but not the institution itself. This Tuesday we filed a complaint with the National Financial Prosecutor's Office for disseminating false or misleading information, ”a spokesperson for the group told us.

"We are challenged, the doubts we have are more about the veracity of the declaration of crossing the threshold," adds the representative of the group.

“Among investors, there are no concerns and that has not moved the course.

But it is difficult to understand the risks that this person takes, because it is a criminal offense to manipulate the course of a share, ”concludes the spokesperson.

“What is really astonishing in this

operation

is to have crossed the 5% mark.

If you want to remain discreet in this kind of mechanism, you do not cross this bar, ”explains Le Parisien, a specialist in international finance.

This statement is all the more surprising given that Finsur already sold part of its shares last Friday to only hold 4.23%.

This kind of manipulation is quite rare, if not in the context of financial transactions with holding companies in tax havens to hide the real ordering party, then tells us this source who wishes to remain anonymous.

"But with 5%, even if you sell a lot of shares, it is extremely difficult to move the course of the type of company like Atos with very solid backs", adds the connoisseur of the mysteries of high finance.

The scenario of the desire to manipulate the price therefore seems unlikely.

"Empty shell" or malicious company?

The situation is all the more intriguing as the ghost company Finsur made its official statement just two days after the general meeting of the French group which saw nearly two-thirds of its shareholders (63.19%, to be exact) reject the consolidated accounts of the company. The group's auditors have indeed issued “reservations”, while accounting errors were made in two American subsidiaries of Atos. The group must clarify these points by the end of July.

“If there was the general meeting recently, you can receive dividends in the holding company - which is actually an empty shell - in any tax haven, and thus ultimately pay a minimum of tax on it. But it's a bit big as a string! “, Further analyzes our market specialist. So false declaration of purchase of shares that do not exist, nominee company, financial embezzlement company? The mystery remains for the moment.

The AMF, contacted by Le Parisien, does not comment on specific cases. But according to our information, declarations of crossing of thresholds are not subject to its control and do not constitute authentication. The fact remains that any forgetting to declare a crossing, above or below the threshold, is liable to sanction and opens the possibility of an investigation. Actions that the AMF does not make public.