The logo of Atos is pictured at the Eurosatory international defence and security exhibition in Villepinte, near Paris, France June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File photo
(Reuters) -Struggling French IT firm Atos announced a management shakeup on Wednesday and appointed Yves Bernaert as chief executive officer, its third in less than two years.
In July 2022, Atos named Nourdine Bihmane for the top job, which was vacated a month earlier by previous CEO Rodolphe Belmer, who held the post for just half a year.
Bernaert, appointed with immediate effect, has served as CEO Europe for Accenture Technology for the past nine years, Atos said.
In early August 2023, the company said Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky was in talks to buy its loss-making legacy operations in a 2-billion-euro ($2.10 billion) deal that would refocus the struggling French company on its cybersecurity and cloud assets, and cut its debt.
However, following concerns raised by some lawmakers over French nuclear deterrence ability, the billionaire's spokesperson said two days later Kretinsky would remain "passive" and a "minority shareholder".
Detailing its management shakeup, Atos said on Wednesday that Bihmane, who was also co-CEO of the group, would take on the post of deputy CEO and remain in charge of the Tech Foundations business.
Philippe Oliva, who joined the group in June 2022 as deputy CEO in charge of the Digital/BDS perimeter to form the newly named SpinCo (Evidian), had decided to leave Atos, the company said.
Shares dropped over 3% in morning trading, and have sunk over 30% this year. They are down by over 90% since November 2020.
($1 = 0.9542 euros)
(Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz and Piotr Lipinski in Gdansk; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Bernadette Baum)
