At the Agen commercial court, the hearings have been one after the other and similar for Lucien Georgelin, since his company, in the grip of financial difficulties, was placed in receivership in July 2023. To date, the debt of the company is still around 47 million euros.
Despite a somewhat complicated period of activity for the Virazeil jam maker, the man left reassured,…
At the Agen commercial court, the hearings have been one after the other and similar for Lucien Georgelin, since his company, in the grip of financial difficulties, was placed in receivership in July 2023. To date, the debt of the company is still around 47 million euros.
Despite a somewhat complicated period of activity for the Virazeil jam maker, the man emerged reassured, this Tuesday, May 21, from his fifth meeting at the bar. This involved presenting the recovery plans of the two entities: SARL Lucien Georgelin and SARL LG Cer (éales). The time has now come to await their approval by the court.
The Region in support
“We are in the last part of the procedure. It’s a spectacular case of legal recovery,” adds Patrick Mauri, the company’s accountant since the end of 2022. Also spectacular is the change in position of the Region, which has “evolved positively”, ahead of this fifth audience. In the summer of 2023, the 76-year-old boss had met President Alain Rousset several times, without obtaining a loan payment guarantee. At the end of April, an interview between the two men had a more favorable outcome.
According to a Source close to the matter, the “blackmail which consisted of bringing Terres du Sud into the capital is now a thing of the past” and the conditions requested a few months ago by the Region (including the opening of the capital) to support the jam maker are not are more on the agenda, in particular because of the good results and efforts of the company. She would thus be willing to financially support Lucien Georgelin, with a loan of 1.6 million euros.
“Everyone wants to put water in their wine,” confirmed the industrialist, at the end of a hearing which lasted almost an hour and a half. On the sidelines, Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the French Communist Party, spoke to Roland Lescure, minister delegate to the Minister of the Economy, with the aim of making the State heard by the banks to allow society to continue. .
“Merge?” Yes, but… “
But if those involved in the Virazeillais case see the end of the tunnel, an unknown remains for the 14 permanent workers at the Villeneuve cereal factory. There were nearly ten of them this Tuesday to appear in the courtroom. Never in a year have there been so many of them. “We don’t know how we’re going to be eaten,” points out Mehmet Akkus, who, like three other Villeneuve staff, lives in Fumel and can’t imagine traveling nearly 160 kilometers every day to go to work in Virazeil, where the relocation of tools doesn’t work. is no longer an open secret. “Merge, yes, we agree, but not to move the machines,” says one of the employees of the factory, which currently produces, in the best case scenario, nearly ten tons of cereals per week.
“We are studying the performance of this tool, but fusion remains the best option,” continues Patrick Mauri. The sale of one of the two Villeneuvois sites, at the Gare Market, dedicated to storage, is still in progress with Deuerer Pet Care France, according to those involved in the matter.
Before that, in the coming days, the commercial court will extend the observation period by six months, time for Lucien Georgelin to negotiate with his creditors. The next hearing should then take place in September. “You will hear about us well before that,” said Maître Dejean, cryptically, the advice of the septuagenarian.
