The offer of the founder of the children's clothing brand Orchestra-Prémaman, Pierre Mestre, was accepted this Friday by the Commercial Court of Montpellier (Hérault), for the takeover of this company, via the company.
The selected offer includes in particular the acquisition of 1,110 work contracts (954 employees on permanent contracts and 156 on fixed-term contracts), and the direct or indirect acquisition abroad of 1,633 employees for a sale price of 35,500,000 euros, according to the judgment consulted by AFP.
An “improved” offer
Orchestra-Prémaman was placed in receivership on April 29. The group, under safeguard procedure since September 2019, had announced in mid-April considering this operation "in order to protect its activity", while its stores are closed due to the epidemic of Covid-19. The group of children's clothing and childcare articles, based in Saint-Aunès, near Montpellier, had announced in mid-February the elimination of 159 positions in France and 300 abroad.
Its CEO and founder, Pierre Mestre, at the origin of the request for placement in receivership, initially intended to apply to the group a severe regime, in particular by closing the logistics warehouse of Saint-Aunès, which employs more than 100 employees on a total workforce of over 1,500 employees. He had then on June 11 presented an offer called "improved". "The collective of shareholders of the company NewOrch, chaired by Pierre Mestre, founding director of Orchestra-Prémaman, takes note with satisfaction of the decision of the commercial court", reacted Pierre Mestre.
"The objective is to minimize the impact on employment"
"By entrusting the reins to the professionals who have developed the business for 25 years, the court chose a collective, funded and secure project, led by a committed team, respectful of the values of the company and the community of its talents and whose objective is to limit the impact on employment as much as possible ”, continues the founder.
The group Al-Othaim, which had also applied for the takeover, "takes note with regret of the deliberations of the court" granting the takeover of the Orchestra-Prémaman group "in plan of sale to its shareholder-manager", reacted the unfortunate candidate on resumption. "Al-Othaim wishes the best to all the teams of the Orchestra-Prémaman group and would like to warmly thank the employees who supported him throughout the procedure," concludes the Saudi group, in a press release.
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- Languedoc-Roussillon
- Clothes
- Stores
- Montpellier
- The Commercial Court
- Economy