Bertrand Meunier steps down as chairman
Sees sale of Tech Foundations to Kretinsky completed in Q2 2024
Failure of sale to Kretinsky would lead to refinancing

Oct 16 Reuters Banking bigshot JeanPierre Mustier is taking over the helm of Atos39; board of directors, the crisishit French IT consulting group said on Monday, driving the shares up as it seeks to secure a contested deal with Czech tycoon Daniel Kretinksy.

Mustier, a former CEO of Italian bank UniCredit, is replacing Bertrand Meunier, who has recently been the focus of criticism by several minority shareholders after Atos dropped an initial plan to split up the company into two listed entities in favour of selling its largest division to Kretinsky.

Mustier, credited with restoring UniCredit39;s capital strength, will be tasked to revive investors39; trust after a governance crisis and a series of setbacks pummelled Atos39; shares, now trading at near record lows.

Atos shares jumped by more than 20 in early Paris trading but reversed course in the morning. They were down by 1.6 at 0749 GMT.

The planned sale of Atos39;s lossmaking legacy IT operations, dubbed Tech Foundations, to Kretinsky is opposed by some minority shareholders and several French politicians.

Critics of the deal with Kretinsky, who would secure more than half of Atos39; activities in terms of sales, have said the transaction was too favourable to the Czech billionaire because it shielded Tech Foundations from Atos39; total 2.3 billion…