Elior, one of the world leaders in collective catering and multiservices, filed a takeover bid with the commercial court on Thursday for Dalloyau, which was placed in receivership at the beginning of August.
A jewel of French gastronomy is about to change hands. According to information from BFM Business, the Elior group, a giant in collective catering, filed a takeover bid on Thursday for the high-end caterer Dalloyau, which was placed in receivership at the beginning of August.
The oldest gastronomic establishment in France, whose history dates back to Louis XIV, this symbol of the French art of living, a member of the Comité Colbert, has been experiencing serious difficulties for several years. A financial safeguard procedure was opened at the end of 2020 after the Covid crisis.
The Elior group, one of the world leaders in collective catering and multi-services with 133,000 employees, therefore filed a takeover bid with the commercial court on Thursday. The group has already made incursions into the luxury catering sector since at the beginning of the year, it acquired the company Entremet de Paris and then the Toulouse-based Demoulin traiteur.
Two competitors facing Elior
Elior is said to have committed to maintaining and preserving the complete integrity of the Dalloyau house, which still has 127 employees, to maintaining its positioning in the luxury sector and to investing one million euros to modernize the kitchens and the network of boutiques. The collective catering group promises that it will respect the DNA of the brand and its high-end positioning. Moreover, Dalloyau should remain autonomous and distinct from the group’s other activities.
To turn the company around on the brink of the precipice, Elior is counting above all on commercial and operational synergies and in particular on integrating the Dalloyau menu into prestigious locations already managed by the group, such as the Maison de l’Amérique latine or the Ciel de Paris.
Boris Derichebourg, CEO of Elior and President of Derichebourg Multiservices – 11/28
To complete the file, Elior highlights its financial solidity. In 18 months, its buyer Derichebourg has made a spectacular recovery with a positive net result for the first time since Covid and a reduction in debt.
Facing him, the Potel et Chabot group, through which the current CEO of Dalloyau, Cindy Heritier, passed between 2007 and 2009, would also be in the running, as would the luxury hotel group Dokhan’s. Result of the races, first half of October for the court’s decision.
Helene Cornet and Raphael Legendre
