Atos Origin to be bought?

French IT services company Atos Origin has entered discussions regarding a possible takeover, according to press reports.

US private equity group Blackstone is said to be the interested party with a bid on the table that values the company at 35 to 40 per cent more than its present share price.

Atos Origin said in a statement it is not involved in any "active discussions which could be considered an agreement or justify any announcement".

Ovum analyst Phil Codling said Blackstone's interest would make sense as it has been "looking to bulk up its IT industry exposure".

He said in an email to silicon.com: "On balance, it's highly likely that these talks are taking place... but recent history also suggests that this deal, like so many [private equity]-led forays into our sector, will probably not happen."

Atos will run the IT infrastructure at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as well as in London four years later. It has also been selected to run the Government Gateway ecommerce service.

The company employs more than 7,000 people in the UK and has annual revenues in excess of €1bn.