Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: PHILIPPE LOPEZ / AFP 8:06 p.m., February 21, 2024

The business continuation plan for the 26 Galeries Lafayette stores owned by Michel Ohayon received the support of its main creditor, just before its final examination at the Bordeaux commercial court, we learned on Wednesday from consistent sources.

This is a major step for the safeguarding of the 26 Galeries Lafayette stores owned by Michel Ohayon in the provinces: their main creditor validated the business continuation plan on Wednesday, pending the decision of the Bordeaux commercial court, under deliberation at the March 20. The Galeries Lafayette group, from which the Bordeaux businessman had purchased these brands in 2018 and 2021, "accepted the safeguard plan proposed by Mr. Ohayon, which was modified", declared to the press before the hearing at behind closed doors Me Stéphane Kadri, lawyer for the central social and economic committee (CSEC) of Hermione Retail, which oversees most of the 26 stores.

Galeries Lafayette, contacted by AFP, did not wish to comment, but according to a source close to the group, they have in fact decided to support the project presented by Michel Ohayon who owes them tens of millions of euros . “In the latest version of the plan, he made concessions which will give a boost to the operation of the stores and the group takes note of this,” observed this source to AFP. "Galeries Lafayette abandons 70% of its receivables, accepts that the remaining 30% be paid within 10 years, to review the commission rate in two years and at the same time, tonight, the forecast of a growth rate of 11% has was reduced to 4%. We said that 11% was unrealistic,” added the lawyer.

Employees “relieved” but “disappointed”

According to him, only the inter-union still opposes the plan, supported by all the creditors and agents, who had until Tuesday to decide. The Galeries Lafayette group, also the main supplier of the 26 stores which employ a thousand employees, nevertheless remains "lucid about the fragility of the situation of these stores but wishes to give a chance to Hermione Retail", whose liabilities reached 153 million euros at the end of 2023, estimates the source close to the group.

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“The employees will be relieved to keep their jobs but they will be disappointed to keep the same shareholder. We would have hoped to have more changes, with a buyer who will ensure that our company is better managed,” declared before the hearing Muriel Scanzi, CFDT central delegate for provincial brands and employee of the Bayonne store. "We are in reserve. We still have this fear of the future and the sustainability of the company. We have almost the same promises as five years ago: investments, repairs in the stores, bringing new brands into stores... but in five years, we have seen very little of their color,” she underlined.

Support from elected officials

The 26 stores employ around 1,000 employees in Agen, Amiens, Angoulême, Bayonne, Beauvais, Belfort, Besançon, Caen, Cannes, Chalon-sur-Saône, Chambéry, Dax, La Roche-sur-Yon, La Rochelle, Libourne, Lorient, Montauban, Niort, Rouen, Saintes, Tarbes and Toulon, as well as in Tours, Pau, Rosny-sous-Bois and in an outlet in Coquelles near Calais. Galeries Lafayette directly operates 19 stores in France, including the historic one on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris; In addition to Michel Ohayon's 26, 13 others are operated by the Société des Grands Magasins or local entrepreneurs.

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The association of elected officials "Villes de France" announced in a press release that it would "not abandon" the Galeries Lafayette stores, "essential locomotives" of city centers. It is "unthinkable that we would leave these premises unoccupied and without activity, in the event of refusal of the protection plan presented", she declares. Michel Ohayon has bought numerous textile brands in recent years, including Camaïeu, liquidated in September 2022. The businessman, in the grip of major financial difficulties, then had to sell Go Sport and Gap France.