The judicial administrators would have received three takeover offers this Friday, June 28 at 6 p.m., including the employees’ cooperative and, a priori, that of the La Rochère glassworks.
Who to take over Duralex, the La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin glassworks, in receivership since April 24? Interested buyers had until Friday June 28 to submit their offer to the judicial administrators.
Three offers appear to have been submitted, according to various sources (we were unable to contact the administrators), including that of the employees’ Scop. They will be presented to the Duralex social and economic committee (CSE) in the coming days.
The court will rule on July 17
The Orléans commercial court is expected to decide in favour of one of its offers on 17 July. It may also, in view of the financial difficulties of this activity dependent on gas and international sales, confirm the end of almost a century of existence of the glassworks.
A withdrawal due to lack of information
One of the four candidates interested from the start, a “family office” (asset manager) would have decided to withdraw from the game, according to the CFDT glassworks union, which was able, with the social and economic committee of the glassworks , meet the leaders. The latter would not have been able to obtain all the desired information and would have visited the company “on the run”.
The Tourres et Cie holding company, owned by the Tourres family, French glassmakers established in Normandy since the 19th century, also visited the company and presented its project to the prefecture. She would therefore maintain her offer.
The company is at the head of two glassworks: Waltersperger, based near Dieppe, specializing in luxury bottles, and the La Rochère glassworks, the oldest in France since founded in 1475 in Haute-Saône (tableware) . Both are labeled “Living Heritage Company”.
An investment bank would also remain in the running, according to the CSE.
Heavyweight support for the Scop
The project that is holding the rope, however, with local elected officials, is that of the SCOP (production cooperative company) wanted by the director of the factory and, according to the CFDT, “more than half of the employees”, out of a workforce of 227 people. The latter, encouraged to invest a minimum of 500 euros in capital, would thus commit themselves for more than 60,000 euros.
They still need to obtain support from the banks, for around 15 million euros. But employees have reason to hope, thanks in particular to recent efforts by Orléans Métropole and the regional council in their favor.
Orléans Métropole has committed to acquiring the building and land of Duralex, covering 14 hectares, for a sum of between five and eight million euros (the price must be determined by the State services). The elected officials voted unanimously for this resolution on June 20.
“This Scop project is an industrial project that we consider to be very robust, with in particular the maintenance of employment for all employees. This project has attracted the full attention of the public authorities, who are very united on this issue.”
Serge Grouard (President of Orléans Métropole)
“The quality of the company was never in question, it was the way in which the various takeovers were carried out that posed a problem,” he added.
The Region has undertaken to enter into the capital of the Scop, for the same sum as the employees (the capital therefore reaches 120,000 euros) and to provide its guarantee for bank loans.
Furthermore, the CFDT secretary of the CSE, Vasco da Silva, stated, during the previous hearing, on June 5, that the glassworks was starting to become profitable again since it no longer had to pay bills to the Maison française du verre, the parent company of Duralex and Pyrex in Châteauroux.
Duralex: Orléans Métropole agrees to buy the site to support the employee takeover project
In fact, the return to equilibrium would come from 30 million euros of turnover, according to a union source, but this has fallen to 24.6 million euros in 2023 with a strongly negative Ebitda (profitability): – 8.3 million euros.
As for François Dufranne, a CGT union member, he says “he has not changed his mind. We favor an industrial project. I am not against the Scop but if we were to reach that point, it would be the last breath of the company because the walls would no longer belong to us.”
Everything is now in the hands of the Orleans commercial court.
Carole Tribout
