AIR

By Mauro Orru

Shares of French IT company Atos SE plunged in Wednesday morning trading after a report suggested that European plane maker Airbus SE is seeking a lower price for a minority stake in Atos's cyber business Evidian.

At 0800 GMT, Atos shares traded 6.5% lower at EUR12.03.

French news channel BFMTV reported early Wednesday that Airbus is unsatisfied with the price and the structure of a potential deal, citing unnamed sources close to the plane maker.

Airbus made an offer to buy a 29.9% stake in Evidian last month, though the companies didn't disclose financial details.

Last year, Atos rejected a letter of intent from French information-technology consultancy firm Onepoint for the potential acquisition of Evidian based on an enterprise value of 4.2 billion euros ($4.56 billion).

Airbus estimates that Evidian as a whole isn't worth as much and the company is unwilling to invest EUR1.2 billion for a stake without having full control of the business, BFMTV reports.

Airbus declined to comment on the report.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 29, 2023 04:27 ET (08:27 GMT)

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