AirbusAtos talks have been going in background source
Renewed prospect of BDS sale after change of Atos chair
Atos, Airbus decline to comment on 39;market rumours39;

PARIS, Dec 15 Reuters Airbus is in talks with Atos to buy its cybersecurity division BDS, a person familiar with the matter said, rekindling interest in one of France39;s prized security assets after opposition from the aerospace group39;s own investors earlier this year.

Atos shares rose 21 after Le Figaro reported Airbus was in advanced talks with it over BDS, which secures communications for French military and spy agencies and builds servers for supercomputers.

The person familiar with the matter confirmed ongoing talks to buy BDS, which is part of an entity in which Airbus sought to buy a minority stake earlier this year, adding that contacts on the issue had never been entirely broken off.

Atos and Airbus declined to comment on market rumours.

Airbus said in March it had decided not to make an offer for a 29.9 stake in Atos39; division Evidian, later renamed Eviden, sending shares in Atos tumbling.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said at the time it was still open to a strategic partnership, having previously noted that aerospace is increasingly driven by big data, connectivity and highpower computing.

Airbus dropped the idea after hedge fund manager Christopher Hohn and some other investors opposed it on the grounds that Evidian was a highly levered company that would dilute the quality of the…