Airbus ends talks over buying Atos39; BDS unit
Latest setback sends Atos shares tumbling
Airbus shares rise on renewed buyback hopes

PARIS, March 19 Reuters Airbus has called off talks to buy the BDS cybersecurity unit of France39;s Atos, sending shares in the software company tumbling by more than a fifth.

It is the second time in a year that the European planemaker has axed proposals to buy assets of debtladen Atos after it declined to make an offer for a minority stake in a broader business a year ago following a backlash from its own investors.

It adds to mounting pressure on Atos, which specializes in spytoAI assets deemed strategic by the French government, on the heels of profit warnings, a revolvingdoor of CEOs and the collapse of another potential asset sale just a few weeks ago.

Atos39; shares sank around 21 in late morning trading to an alltime low.

The failure of this sale process poses both a liquidity problem…and a problem regarding debt restructuring, analyst Nicolas David from Oddo BHF said.

The two companies announced the collapse of talks for Airbus to buy BDS, including its key big data activities, in brief statements.

Atos said it was evaluating strategic alternatives that will take into consideration the sovereign imperatives of the French state.

Atos secures communications for the French military and secret services and manufactures servers to make supercomputers able to process troves of data for research or to develop the nascent…