Decathlon will pay 1 billion euros in dividends to the Mulliez family, which owns Auchan, where 2,400 jobs are at risk

Decathlon, a French sports brand, provokes the ire of unions after the announcement of the payment of a billion euros in dividends to its majority shareholder, the Mulliez family association (AFM). Because it also owns Auchan, a brand where 2,400 jobs are currently under threat.

Also read:
Auchan: “This is the biggest social plan we have ever known”… The distributor plans to cut nearly 2,400 jobs in France

“The CFDT Decathlon is in shock at the announcement this morning in the Decathlon group committee: one billion euros in dividends will be paid from Monday to the shareholders of the Mulliez family association for the year 2024”, s outrages the CFDT.

“No money for senior negotiations, mutual insurance or NAO (mandatory annual negotiations, Editor's note.)”, but at the same time, “family shareholders are taking a billion euros in dividends” for 2024, said deplored for its part the first union, the CFTC.

The origin of this information comes from the two unions and was taken up by AFP. A source close to management told the agency that this amount corresponded to “a distribution of reserves accumulated within the company over time by shareholders”. “It is distributed to all shareholders including the company’s more than 60,000 employees,” explains this source.

Union incomprehension given the situation at Auchan

For its part, the shareholder AFM did not wish to react. Decathlon's management assures that this decision “is part of balanced management of the company”. She adds that she will continue “to invest in strategic growth initiatives for the benefit of our employees, our customers and our partners”.

The announcement comes as another brand in the Mulliez galaxy, the food distributor Auchan, announced a large-scale social plan, threatening a total of 2,389 jobs and including the closure of around ten stores and three warehouses.

The CFDT services federation had requested that reclassification proposals be made in other companies in the Mulliez galaxy, such as Leroy Merlin or Decathlon.

The CFDT also took up the pen this week to ask parliamentarians to create a commission of inquiry “in order to really be able to understand what public money was used for” by the various AFM brands, according to a letter consulted by AFP.