Le Zorro du business is back. Thierry Breton, the former French finance minister, earned his nom de guerre leading “turnarounds” at French national champions such as Thomson and France Telecom. Now he has been summoned back from a lecturing stint at Harvard Business School to take the reins at Atos Origin, the French IT services company.

Mr Breton replaces Philippe Germond, who had seen his support erode since he fended off an effort by two Anglo-Saxon hedge funds to break the group up in the spring. With Mr Germond gone, and with Mr Breton assuming the role of chairman alongside his chief executive role, Atos’s shareholders will be looking to him to unlock value.