UPDATE 1-Ex-minister named Atos Origin CEO -source

* Ex-minister Thierry Breton named Atos Origin CEO - source

* Company declines comment on reports of boardroom coup

(Adds details, background)

PARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Former French finance minister Thierry Breton has been appointed chief executive of IT services company Atos Origin (ATOS.PA), a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday, confirming media reports.

Atos Origin declined to comment.

The Financial Times and French business daily Les Echos said in early Monday editions that the suprise move came in a boardroom coup on Sunday, just six months after the chairman was ousted in a row between Atos and two investor hedge funds.

If Breton's comeback to corporate life is confirmed, he would replace Philippe Germond who was appointed to run Atos Origin in Oct. 2007.

Breton was finance minister under former president Jacques Chirac between 2005 and 2007 and previously ran French companies such as Thomson SA TMS.PA and France Telecom (FTE.PA).

Atos Origin, which designed the computer systems for the Beijing Olympics, has been involved in strategy disutes for months over the speed of its recovery from losses.

Germond resisted calls for a break-up of the 11-year-old company but has said he would examine merger offers.

Breton, who taught at Harvard after leaving politics last year, has been seen as a candidate for several French corporate jobs and was pipped to the top post at Alcatel Lucent (ALUA.PA) by former EADS co-chief executive Philippe Camus.