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Adds Airbus comment, Tech Foundations sale, and financing details from paragraph 3

Jan 3 (Reuters) - French IT company Atos ATOS.PA said on Wednesday it would open due diligence talks with Airbus AIR.PA in regards to the sale of its big data & security (BDS) unit.

The world's biggest planemaker has placed an indicative offer price in the range of 1.5 billion euros to 1.8 billion euros ($1.64 billion-$1.97 billion) for the unit, Atos said.

An Airbus spokesperson confirmed in an e-mailed statement sent to Reuters that it has submitted a non-binding proposal for a potential acquisition of Atos' BDS business line.

"The acquisition of BDS could significantly accelerate the digital transformation of Airbus, enhance the company’s defence and security portfolio with strong capabilities in cyber, advanced computing and artificial intelligence, and support Airbus’ decarbonisation roadmap," Airbus said.

Meanwhile, Atos Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh said theexclusive negotiations with Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's EPEI on the sale of its Tech Foundations unit are taking "more time than planned", with no certainty of an agreement being reached.

"Discussions continue around the price to be paid, the structure of the transaction and the transfer of a very large proportion of Tech Foundations liabilities," the company said in a press release.

Atos said it is in discussions with banks to maintain financing and obtain refinancing, adding that in the first quarter of 2024 it will assess whether these measures are sufficient to cover financing maturities and cash requirements on a long-term basis.

($1 = 0.9128 euros)

(Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz and Dagmarah Mackos in Gdansk; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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