Atos Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting Approved the Acquisition of Siemens IT Solutions and Services by 99.99%

PARIS, July 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Atos, an international information technology services company, today announces that it has completed the acquisition of Siemens IT Solutions and Services – to become a new IT champion with proforma 2010 annual revenues of euro 8.7 billion and 78,500 employees across 42 countries.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090210/DA68663LOGO)

The transaction was approved by Atos Extraordinary shareholders meeting held in Atos headquarters in Bezons today by 99.99% of the shareholders. Atos also confirms that it has signed one of the largest IT outsourcing deals with Siemens worth euro 5.5 billion over seven years to take over management of all IT infrastructure, applications and services.

Speaking at the Extraordinary General Meeting, CEO and Chairman, Thierry Breton, said: "Today is a momentous day for our company as we embark on the next chapter in our history to become a top 10 global IT services provider. The combination of Atos Origin & Siemens IT Solutions and Services marks an exciting evolution in the IT market. Our chance to make our mark, to write history with our clients, to introduce brand new ideas to the market, to continue powering progress. This alliance presents the perfect opportunity to accelerate progress and to deliver value to our shareholders, employees and clients. "

"With the combined expertise and knowledge of Siemens IT Solutions and Services and Atos Origin, we are uniquely positioned to help our clients in the new era of IT. At Atos, we have unrivalled expertise in transactional services and as the number one data centre provider in Europe, are best positioned to help our clients transfer smoothly to the Cloud to benefit from increased flexibility and reduced costs."

Creation of an IT Champion

Ranked in the top 10 global IT services providers; number five in managed services worldwide and the number one European player in Europe, the new company is a powerful combination of two highly complementary organisations. Together as Atos, they create a leader in foundation and business critical IT services that will accelerate growth.

In managed services, the acquisition of Siemens IT Solutions and Services more than doubles the capability and capacity of Atos to position it as one the leaders in cloud computing with 30 major data centres, 900,000 SAP users and management of more than 90,000 servers globally.

The deal reinforces the commitment of Atos to innovation and accelerates its strategy to further grow its business in transactional services. Through joint go-to-market plans and joint investment programmes with Siemens, Atos will have more opportunity to extend its successful Atos Worldline business to new markets, geographies and clients.

Partnership for innovation and business growth

The relationship between Atos and Siemens has three dimensions. Siemens today becomes an Atos shareholder with a 15% stake and the biggest Atos client. In addition the two companies have formed a strategic global partnership to jointly develop new IT products and solutions for which both parties are committed to investing 50 million Euros each. This strategic partnership will enable collaboration on large bids and joint R&D efforts in key markets to strengthen innovation and secure new business opportunities across all markets.

Atos - operational today

Following the success of the six month integration programme, which was set up to select the best practices from both companies, to identify the new portfolio and to align core operating processes, Atos is today operating as one company with a newly appointed executive committee.

The role of the new executive committee will be to develop and execute the Group strategy and merger plans to ensure value is delivered to clients, shareholders and employees from today. This will include the roll out of TOP2 program, which follows the successful TOP program launched in December 2008. TOP2 will focus on increasing profitability of the combined entity through optimization of synergies such as office locations and procurement.

Atos – a new brand

During the Extraordinary General Meeting, Thierry Breton revealed the Company's new name and brand 'Atos'. It has been created to strengthen market positioning and highlight the Company's commitment to its clients and its corporate values – accountability, trust, operational competitiveness, service to clients, innovation, social well being and excellence.

The Atos brand brings together the heritage of Atos Origin TO Siemens IT Solutions and Services. It represents the Company's vision to create the firm of the future where people, technology and business work together to accelerate progress. It also highlights its belief to strive to power sustainable progress and its ambition to be a trusted partner of choice for clients and the best place to work for its business technologists.

Atos serves a global client base to deliver hi-tech transactional services, consulting and technology, systems integration and managed services. With its deep technology expertise and industry knowledge, it works with clients across the following market sectors: Manufacturing and Retail Services, Finance, Energy and Utilities, Telecom, media, Public Sector, Health and Transport.

The Group confirmed during the Extraordinary General Meeting its targets for 2013 : revenue of euro 9 to 10 billion ; operating margin at 7 – 8 percent ; EPS to increase by more than 50%  compared to 2011 for new company and free cash flow in the range of euro 350 to euro 400 million.

About Atos

Atos is an international information technology services company with annual revenues of EUR 8.7 billion and 78,500 employees in 42 countries. Serving a global client base, it delivers hi-tech transactional services, consulting, systems integration and managed services.

Atos is focused on business technology that powers progress and helps organizations to create their firm of the future. It is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic Games and is quoted on the Paris Eurolist Market. Atos operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldline and Atos WorldGrid. For more information, visit: atos.net

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.atos.net

Photos and visuals for the new Atos brand are available at : http://www.atos.net/en-us/Newsroom/en-us/Media_Resources/

SOURCE Atos