(Bloomberg) -- Atos SE Chief Executive Officer Paul Saleh — facing a mounting debt crisis, failed deal talks, and a share price that’s sunk about 97% in the last seven years — said that talks with creditors are progressing and he’s confident that the French IT company will be “saved” in a plan that will be finalized by July.

“The dialog is very, very positive,” Saleh said in an interview at Bloomberg’s office in Paris on Tuesday. “I do believe that everybody is aligned.” 

Stakeholders have until April 26 to present a plan to restructure the company, which is trying to raise about €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) of new money to fund the business through 2025 and cut debt by roughly half to €2.4 billion. The company also wants to extend remaining debt maturities by five years.

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Saleh, 67, is a US citizen who joined the company last year as finance chief. In January, he became Atos’ fifth head in less than three years. Now, as he works to rescue the company, he’s on a charm offensive — talking up the merits of what was once one of France’s premier tech companies and bragging about the company’s employee retention rate, its engineering credentials and patent holdings. 

But the company has suffered from a series of setbacks, accounting errors, profit warnings that’s left it struggling to pay its debts. Plans to offload assets to Airbus SE and Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky stumbled earlier this year. A court-appointed mediator is now handling a “conciliation” process with creditors and banks to come up with a plan to save the company.

Those stakeholders - the bondholders and banks who split Atos’ debt - are grappling over proposals that will minimize their losses. 

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Two groups holding about 30% of bonds across the different maturities have come together to offer Atos a single restructuring proposal, Bloomberg reported. Under the plan, they would have half of their debt converted into equity and would inject €600 million of the €1.2 billion needed in the form of new bonds. 

Saleh, who acknowledged that bondholders are holding discussions to form a group, said the combination of long-term bondholders and newer debt owners, such as special situation funds, has made it “a little more challenging to bring a solution because you have people who are more near-term.” 

The group will work on the refinancing proposals through May. “When we get all these proposals together we will start evaluating which ones make the most sense for the company,” Saleh said. “And then the bondholders and the banks will have to also vote for them.”

Of the €1.2 billion it is looking to raise, the company aims to get €300 million in guarantees from banks and €300 million in credit lines, be it from lenders or banks fronting for credit funds, Saleh said. Those who provide the new money may receive more security in their holdings as a result, Saleh said. All of Atos’ debt is currently unsecured.

Before a deal is reached, Atos is getting €400 million in interim financing from banks and bondholders, with an additional €50 million coming from the French state. The government was compelled to intervene for national security reasons, given Atos’s key role as a supplier of IT services to the country’s nuclear and defense sectors as well as for cybersecurity at this summer’s Paris Olympics. 

France in return will get a preferred share giving it special voting rights related to Atos’s strategic activities. Saleh described the French government weighing on negotiations as highly effective and positively received. “At this stage their participation is more secondary to the banks and creditors”, he added. “They’d rather see the market be the primary actor.”

Other parties like Atos’ largest shareholder OnePoint and Kretinsky could still contribute to the refinancing plan, or come up with their own takeover plans. 

Read More: Atos to Present Debt Plan as Onepoint Bolsters Rescue Coalition

“What we have presented is a comprehensive plan that included all the assets of Atos,” Saleh said of possible alternative plans or asset disposals. “We welcome all kinds of proposals.” 

Another deadline for Atos, also coming in July, is the Paris Olympics. Atos manages 2,500 people overseeing the technical infrastructure for the games, from scores being posted instantly around the world to cybersecurity. 

The company is “absolutely ready to take on the Olympics and make France proud,” Saleh said. “I’m confident we’ll come through in shining colors.”

--With assistance from Molly Schuetz.

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