Not even an interview, just four short sentences distilled sparingly but with a clear message: “We will not abandon Atos' industrial activities which represent tens of thousands of jobs.
(…) The State will use all means at its disposal to preserve strategic activities.
» When, on Monday evening, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, spoke for the first time publicly on the catastrophic financial situation of this flagship of French IT in the daily Les Échos, the words were carefully chosen.
“We sent the message we wanted,” we recognize at Bercy.
And those who need to understand have understood.
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Translation of this cryptic message: “The State will intervene in one way or another to save Atos but, above all, it will not let a foreign investor take it over,” explains this executive of the company who met with Bercy officials several times in recent months.
“The executive is ready to activate the Montebourg decree which allows the government to prevent any foreign investment in a French company deemed strategic,” adds a parliamentarian.
Among the candidates, the name of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky comes up regularly.
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