The two takeover offers from the giant ready-to-wear for children, Orchestra-Prémaman, placed in receivership on April 29, were deemed insufficient, this Thursday, by the Commercial Court of Montpellier (Hérault), that presented by its founder Pierre Mestre via the company NewOrch, and that of the Saudi group Al Othaim.
In its judgment, of which AFP obtained a copy, the court fixed next June 11 the “new date for the deposit of offers and the improvement of the existing offers” for the takeover of this company, specialized in the sale of textile products for children and childcare. He will examine these new offers at a new hearing on June 16.
Employees' lawyer says he is "satisfied"
The Commercial Court enjoins the transferee candidates to "present a simplified offer, purged of all random elements or suspensive conditions and presenting sufficient financial guarantees to finance the acquisition price and future working capital requirements". "I am obviously satisfied with this decision since it is in accordance with the request I made", reacted Ralph Bindauer, the employees' lawyer. "The motivation suits me well since it is an invitation to the two candidates to improve their offer, so what will come out of this file will necessarily be better than what there is currently, the employees have every reason to be satisfied. "
In a request to the Attorney General dated June 2, Ralph Blindauer had asked to "reopen the proceedings": "We must seriously debate the admissibility of Pierre Mestre's offer. Employees do not want it, not because of personal antipathy, or a sudden outburst of sympathy towards the Saudis. They do not want it because the question is not whether this offer leads us into the wall, but only when we are there, ”he wrote.
The suspended Saint-Aunès warehouse
The group, under safeguard procedure since September 2019, had announced in mid-April considering its placement in receivership "in order to protect its activity", while its stores are closed, due to the epidemic of Covid-19.
The children's clothing group, based in Saint-Aunès, near Montpellier, announced in mid-February the elimination of 159 jobs in France and 300 abroad.
Its CEO and founder Pierre Mestre, at the origin of the request for placement in receivership, intended to apply a severe regime to the group, in particular by closing the logistics warehouse of Saint-Aunès, which employs more than 100 employees out of a total workforce more than 1,500 employees.
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