A skilled poker player, Philippe Ginestet is currently playing a game where the stakes are colossal: the future of Gifi and its 6,500 employees. Since the announcement of the brand's sale, underground maneuvers often orchestrated by the competition have polluted the atmosphere. To the question “who will buy Gifi (1.3 billion turnover)?” “, the predictions are going well, particularly in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, headquarters of the brand, where the takeover by another operator appears to many to be deadly in a town – having neither motorway nor train station – without any interest on the logistics plan.
Gifi: an empire for sale
In financial difficulty, the Gifi brand was placed in a sale process by its historic owner, Philippe Ginestet
Except that in the end, it could well be that the ideal candidate to take over Gifi is Philippe Ginestet himself. “He is very combative. Gifi is his baby, it’s visceral for him,” recalls Guillaume Lepers, deputy for Villeneuvois, former close collaborator of Philippe Ginestet. In his wishes that he addressed to his staff, the latter also mentioned a “solid financial recovery plan to ensure the integrity of our house”. The businessman hides nothing about the company's situation, recalling that “the year which has just ended was surely the most difficult in the entire history of (the) company. »
For months, the founder of Gifi has been working to reverse the negative spiral. For the first time, he triggered a confidential conciliation procedure under the aegis of the president of the Toulouse commercial court. An agreement with the creditors, and therefore the banks, is thus concluded in the spring of 2024. 100 million are raised, in exchange for which the boss of Gifi provides colossal guarantees. But the economic situation of the brand, which is still losing a lot of money, forces the self-made man to request a new conciliation at the end of the summer: the sale of Gifi is mentioned in order to relaunch the brand.
Letters of intent have been sent but they would not be up to the challenges, and especially not to the taste of the creditor banks. But the conciliation is about to end. Without an agreement, a collective procedure (safeguard, legal recovery), taking into account the economic situation of Gifi, cannot be ruled out. The creditors would have everything to lose, the debts being frozen initially, essentially erased at the end of the day. In the absence of credible buyers around the table, it is therefore Philippe Ginestet who would appear to the banks as the best party. The founder of the brand in 1981, who (tactically?) never included his real estate empire in the sale of the brand, thus weakening the position of buyers, could therefore regain control.
“We know he’s fighting for jobs, for us…”
The group's spokesperson, Didier Pitelet, does not rule it out: “The negotiations are well advanced but still in progress. Normally, we should see things more clearly during January and be able to communicate. » According to him, “the causes of the financial problems are known [baisse des ventes à la suite d’un été maussade, bascule informatique ayant viré à la catastrophe industrielle et, sans doute, un positionnement discutable en termes de tarifs dans un marché désormais ultra-concurrentiel, NDLR]. A lot of work has been done and everything is now in place for the company to be sustainable. In what form, I cannot say now. »
At this stage, internal communication is minimal even if, obviously, the founder of the brand wants to reassure. The recovery plan mentioned could validate the hypothesis of a new personal contribution. “If anyone is capable of turning the situation around, however problematic it may be, it’s him,” said one of his close colleagues at the start of the crisis.
Internally, however, there is no room for optimism. The atmosphere is described as “very gloomy”. At the plant, where 850 employees work between the headquarters and the adjoining warehouses, only rumors from the corridors spread and contradict each other. But the fear is palpable. To try to influence the public authorities, the idea of a march was born before the holidays. “We imagined walking from the power plant to his house in Pujols, where he transferred his offices and where he no longer leaves,” says an employee. But there were as many pros as cons. Philippe Ginestet doesn't only have good sides but we know that he fights for jobs, for us…”
