(Bloomberg) -- Embattled French IT company Atos SE has appointed its sixth chief executive officer in less than three years, as the group moves ahead with its creditors’ restructuring plan.
Atos Chairman Jean-Pierre Mustier will take over as CEO from Paul Saleh to steer the company through the final stages of the bailout agreement, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. He will remain chairman of Atos’ board.
A French commercial court has also opened a restructuring process that will help the debt-ridden Atos push through a refinancing plan with its creditors, known as an accelerated safeguard proceeding, Atos said in the statement.
“It means that Atos is saved,” Mustier told Bloomberg in an interview. “The financial problems are behind us, we can now focus on the industrial development.”
The safeguard process lets companies reach an agreement with a majority of secured creditors and impose the deal on any who dissent. The decision was taken by the court considering “the strong level of support” from the company’s creditors, Atos said. The hearing for the approval of the safeguard plan is expected on Oct. 15.
It is another milestone in a long-running saga to save the sprawling IT company that’s a key supplier to both the French nuclear industry and the Olympic Games. Once one of France’s premier tech companies, Atos has struggled with huge debts, accounting errors and industrywide headwinds that have wiped out nearly €12 billion ($13 billion) of its market value over the past seven years. The company has been under a formal restructuring process with creditors and banks since February to avoid bankruptcy.
Mustier, a former UniCredit SpA boss, said he took on the role of CEO on an interim basis because Saleh, who was appointed in January, resigned. Atos and its creditors will choose a new leadership — including its seventh CEO within three years — to run the business once the financial restructuring is complete, he added.
Atos announced last week that it had secured €1.68 billion of new financing and signed a lock-up agreement with a majority of its creditors, that will see them take control of the heavily indebted firm.
--With assistance from Irene García Pérez.
(Updates with table of CEOs)
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