Once a flagship national company, a key defence contractor that runs supercomputers for France's nuclear deterrent, Atos has been an International Olympic Committee partner since Salt Lake City in 2002 and is in charge of managing 300,000 accreditations, among other technical responsibilities, like providing real-time results.

Despite such a high-profile portfolio, it is currently sagging under almost €5 billion of debt and has needed special funding from the French government in order to ensure that its financial problems do not affect the upcoming Games, where one of its main tasks is cyber security, a hot topic of conversation for organizers, as Paris 2024 is considered to be facing serious cyberattack threats. “My dream for the Olympics is that technology and cybersecurity aren’t talked about, because that will mean it was a non-issue,” Jérémy Couture, head of the Paris Games cybersecurity hub, recently told The Associated Press.

But despite a reported €50 million loan from the host nation to stay above water, Atos admitted last week that it now needs €1.1 billion in cash for 2024-2025, up from a previous estimate of €600 million. It is also seeking to slash its debt by €3.2 billion. On its Monday statement, the company confirmed a €100 million agreement for an emergency credit with creditors and mentioned on-going negotiations for the planned government takeover of its cybersecurity, military communication and supercomputing assets. 

The board, it announced, had received four financial restructuring offers on Sunday. The proposals were made by US investment firm Bain Capital, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's Equity Investment, top shareholder Onepoint, and a group of bondholders and banks. Atos said it had rejected Bain Capital's offer but would work with its creditors to choose one of the other proposals by May 31, with the aim of reaching a final restructuring agreement by July. Any restructuring "probably implies radical changes in the capital structure of the company and a significant issuing of new shares that will lead to a massive dilution of existing shareholders", the company stated.

The Olympics begin on July 26 but Atos has insisted that its financial woes would not disrupt its operations during the Games. "We will now work with our financial creditors to find a solution by May 31 that will be acceptable to them and consistent with the parameters we have shared," Atos chief executive Paul Saleh said. "I am confident that a final agreement can be reached by the July target that would assure the continuity of operations to our clients and be in the best interest of Atos' employees, clients, suppliers, creditors, shareholders and other stakeholders," he added.

Of Atos’ close to €5 billion accumulated debt, up to €3.65 billion are bonds and loans that must be repaid or refinanced by the end of next year. Efforts to tone down the growing sense of urgency have been made by key players like the head of the Paris 2024 organising committee, Tony Estanguet. "We have full confidence In Atos. What happens at the top of the group has no impact whatsoever on us," Estanguet said back in April.

But the company’s recent failure to reach agreements on the sale of two subsidiaries has done little to quiet down speculation that the group could eventually be broken up and prevent stock market shares from plummeting. Just last week, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire disclosed that he had dispatched a non-binding letter of intent expressing interest in acquiring Atos' "sovereign activities." A move aimed to prevent its critical operations from falling into the hands of foreign entities. “We will see what other players might want to participate, it will only be French groups in strategic sectors such as defence or aerospace," he insisted.

Atos stated that the proposal assesses the value of these businesses to be between 700 million and one billion euros. Following Le Maire's announcement, shares in Atos surged by 14 percent when the Paris stock exchange opened. They have declined by 70 percent since the beginning of the year.

"Of course we have to pay particular attention to any difficulties the company might have, but I haven't seen any warning signs about the group's situation that could affect the security of the Games," said Vincent Strubel, French National Agency for Cyber Security (ANSSI) CEO, in an interview in Le Figaro newspaper. "We are monitoring them closely to make sure there are no problems. But as of today, there are none," he assured back in March.