Atos Is Said to Mull Bid for SIX's Unit After Gemalto Rebuff

(Bloomberg) -- Atos SE is considering a bid for Swiss stock market operator SIX Group AG’s payments processing business, people familiar with the matter said, as the French IT services provider seeks acquisitions after its bid for Gemalto NV was rebuffed in favor of a rival offer.

Atos could use the acquisition to boost growth at its payments unit Worldline SA, the people said, asking not to be identified because the considerations are private. Buyout firm Nordic Capital is also among funds weighing in bids for the business, the people said.

First Data Corp., Ingenico Group SA as well as buyout firms Warburg Pincus, Hellman & Friedman, Advent International and Bain Capital are also among potential bidders for the business, people familiar with the matter have said. A sale could value the asset at about 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.1 billion), they said.

Representatives for Atos, Nordic Capital and SIX Group declined to comment.

French aerospace specialist Thales SA knocked out Atos’s unsolicited attempt to buy Dutch cybersecurity provider Gemalto SA in December, outbidding the rival with a cash offer valued at 4.76 billion euros that won backing from the target company. Consolidation in the payment-services sector has accelerated as investors look for ways to tap into the shift to online spending.

--With assistance from Alexandre Boksenbaum-Granier

To contact the reporters on this story: Manuel Baigorri in London at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net, Sarah Syed in London at ssyed35@bloomberg.net, Aaron Kirchfeld in London at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dinesh Nair at dnair5@bloomberg.net, Giles Turner

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