Gemalto is as dutch as I am a martian
Gemalto is the product of the merger of two french companies, Gemplus and Axalto. It is listed in the netherlands (and has probably less than 6 employees at its fiscal HQ). The official HQ is in Meudon, just next to Paris.
BTW, Gemalto is known for its smart cards, but has a huge business in Security (they acquired Safenet) and in govt ID and passport controls (they acquired 3M identity business and deliver most of the equipment used by TSA or CBP in the US, or border control in France).
Atos announced its offer the same day Gemalto employees were on strike in the south of France. Gemalto plans to get rid of 288 employees, most of them in its historical offices in Gémenos and La Ciotat (Telecoms and banking divisions). Let's say it was not welcome as expected.
BTW the layoffs plan is justified by the fact that Gemalto S.A., the french operation, made a loss this year (-17 M€). But Gemalto did a few funny things in its books. The company acquired 19M€ of its own shares to give to its top managers. it also recorded a one time goodwill depreciation of 425 M€. that depreciation left a gaping hole in the bottom line.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
