French firm Atos extends Olympics IT contract to 2024
LONDON (Reuters) - Atos has signed up as IT services partner for the Olympics until 2024, extending a relationship that began in 1989, the French company said on Monday.
Atos said it was awarded the contract by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after what it called a competitive bidding process.
"The IOC wanted a company that can best serve the ideals and interests of the Olympic Movement, both from an economic standpoint and by embracing new technologies to ensure the smooth and efficient organisation of the Olympic Games," Atos said in a statement.
Atos is also one of 10 international companies that pay a total of around $1 billion for Olympic marketing rights over a four-year cycle covering winter and summer Games. That separate agreement runs until the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Other major global sponsors including Coca-Cola and McDonalds have signed up until 2020. The IOC has said it plans to review the marketing programme before it does any deals going beyond 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympics.
(Writing by Keith Weir; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)
