the essential
Jam maker Lucien Georgelin can get off to a good start. The two entities of the group he built are saved. There remain debts to honor and in the short term the merger and relocation.
The Agen commercial court has approved the plan of the company Lucien Georgelin Céréales, indicated yesterday morning the group's lawyer, Christophe Dejean, who confirms that the company is in turn emerging from the judicial recovery procedure, after SARL Georgelin jams from Virazeil on October 23. The debt settlement plan was brought to the attention of the court on November 19 and the decision was awaited.
Merger of the two companies and transfer to Virazeil
“As soon as the receivership for the Villeneuve-sur-Lot company is lifted, we will be able to launch the universal transfer of assets operation and carry out the merger of the two companies within 1 to 2 months,” declared the lawyer at the time of disclosure of the plan. “This means the repatriation of production units (Editor’s note: the Villeneuve cereals branch) to Virazeil on a single site.” But for their part, the 17 employees also called to join the parent company, have made no secret from the start that they will not follow. Too much of a drive from their home in Villeneuvois, or even in Fumélois. “We are not against the merger, but against relocation,” said a member of the CSE on November 19.
Towards a social plan?
The hypothesis of a social plan is therefore not excluded in a context of very tense or even broken social dialogue between CEO Lucien Georgelin and his Villeneuve employees, who have felt somewhat left behind from the start. They themselves are reproached by schematizing, playing against the company and dragging their feet.
It is therefore a one and a half year procedure which closes after the two Georgelin entities were placed in receivership in July 2023 by the Agen commercial court. Lucien Georgelin, his brother Patrick and his financial advisors must put themselves in working order and now honor, under the cover of a monthly installment, the debts: 6 million euros on the Villeneuvois side, including 4 million owed to the parent company of Virazeil and 35 million euros for the jam site in Virazeil, indicated Me Dejean on November 19. Also stipulating that the jam maker still benefited from the fervent support of mass distribution. Since the announcement of its insolvency proceedings, the company has benefited from widespread popular support: distributor customers and consumers have joined forces to support the multiple Georgelin ranges and products.
