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PARIS: Atos Origin, the French computer services provider, has abruptly replaced its chief executive with a former finance minister, Thierry Breton, in what local news reports are calling a boardroom coup.
The company's supervisory board voted unanimously to hire Breton at a meeting late Sunday, Atos Origin said.
Atos Origin, which designed systems for the Beijing Olympics and specializes in secure online payments, said its board had asked Breton to “accelerate the rollout of its transformation plan, refocus on key businesses and reinforce its market share.”
It was the second shake-up in six months at the company. The chairman was removed by two hedge funds in June, a move seen as a breakthrough for shareholder activism in France.
Breton was finance minister under President Jacques Chirac from 2005 to 2007 and has run the French companies Thomson and France Télécom.
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The previous chief executive, Philippe Germond, had steered Atos through months of bitter disagreements. Germond clashed with the two hedge funds, Pardus Capital Management and Centaurus Capital, which built up 23 percent of the capital and called for changes in strategy to speed recovery from losses.
In May, there were rowdy scenes and a shareholder meeting had to be suspended after a staff shareholder group defected to the funds and Germond blocked a vote to seek legal advice.
The stand-off ended two weeks later when the chairman, Didier Cherpitel, agreed to step down and was replaced by Jean-Philippe Thierry, chairman of AGF, the French insurer.
On Monday, Thierry said Breton's appointment would mark a new direction for Atos and its 50,000 employees, who work in 40 countries.
“He will lead the strategy of the group in order to face and overcome the challenges of the current economic environment and to start a new step in its development,” Thierry said in a statement.
Breton taught at Harvard University after leaving politics last year. He has been seen as a candidate for several French corporate jobs, including Alcatel Lucent's top post, which was recently filled by Philippe Camus, former co-chief executive of European Aeronautic Defense and Space.
Germond had long resisted calls for a breakup of Atos Origin but said he would examine merger offers.
Last year, Atos Origin ended talks with potential buyers ranging from private equity firms to rivals like the French group Capgemini and instead undertook a restructuring plan.
After conducting a strategy review after the fight with investors, Atos said on Oct. 31 that it would sell €250 million to €500 million, or $316 million to $632 million, in nonstrategic assets, mostly in Latin America and Asia.