Due to objections from activist investor TCI Fund Management, Airbus has withdrawn its bid to acquire a 29.9% stake in Evidian, the cybersecurity, big data and digital technology division of Atos. TCI Fund Management, which holds a 3% stake in Airbus worth $4 billion, argued that the purchase would be a costly mistake.

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation, boasting 112,000 employees and annual revenues of approximately €11 billion, specialising in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the company offers end-to-end solutions for all industries in 71 countries. In June last year, Atos announced its intention to split into two separate entities, a process that is expected to be completed by mid-2023. One of the resulting halves would be a "legacy" IT services segment called Tech Foundations, which last year generated revenues of around €6 billion and had a small operating profit. Czech businessman Daniel Křetínský has also expressed interest in this part of the business and is reportedly in talks with Atos. Křetínský has built one of Europe's largest energy groups over a decade and is now looking to diversify his businesses, exploring investment opportunities in areas such as retail, media and others.

The other half resulting from the demerger of Atos would be Evidian, which would include the company's digital, big data and security activities. The spin-off business Evidian employs around 60,000 people, has annual revenues of around €5 billion and is responsible for securing communications for customers such as the French military. A failure with Airbus could give other bidders an opportunity. Last September, for example, a €4.2bn bid for Evidian came from rival onepoint and UK private equity fund ICG, which Atos rejected.

Shares in Atos plummeted 17% to close at €10.72 in Paris early Wednesday afternoon.