Atos appoints fifth CEO in less than two years

(Reuters) -French technology company Atos on Wednesday said it would appoint Chairman Jean Pierre Mustier as CEO to replace the departing Paul Saleh.

Atos is pursuing in a financial restructuring plan in a bid to deal with its debt problems, and get its business back on track.

Mustier, former CEO of Italian bank UniCredit, takes over with immediate effect from Paul Saleh, who became CEO in January.

The nominee marks the fifth boss of French IT company in less than two years. Mustier's appointment comes as the Nanterre Commercial Court has validated the opening of an accelerated safeguard procedure to implement Atos' financial restructuring plan, which earlier this month secured funding from banks and bondholders for a target of 1.675 billion euros.

The court hearing to approve the accelerated safeguard plan is scheduled for Oct. 15, Atos added.

(Reporting by Olivier Sorgho and Anna Peverieri; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens)