Deals
Atos Bids $5.1 Billion for Gemalto to Form French Tech Giant
- Cash offer is friendly but unsolicited; Gemalto is studying it
- Bid comes after tough year for security-software maker Gemalto
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Atos SE made a 4.3-billion-euro ($5.06 billion) unsolicited bid for Gemalto NV with the backing of the French state’s investment bank, seeking to create a European leader in cybersecurity, digital technologies and payment services.
Atos is proposing to pay 46 euros a share in cash, 36 percent above Monday’s closing price. It called the offer friendly and said it wants to engage in discussions about a deal, which would be the biggest of the year between two European technology companies. Gemalto, a security software company that’s seen its stock battered this year by a series of profit warnings and operational setbacks, said it’s reviewing the proposal, which it described as conditional.