The commercial court of Fort-de-France validated Tuesday the extension of the activity of the daily France-Antilles , put into compulsory liquidation on January 30, until March 10, in order to allow exceptionally to Xavier Niel, boss of the group Iliad, to make a takeover offer. It is a response to a request made urgently Monday by the prosecutor of the Republic of Martinique, Renaud Gaudeul, to avoid the disappearance of the only daily newspaper in Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana.
This "exceptional" request from the prosecutor follows the receipt of a "letter of intent" from Xavier Niel, co-shareholder of Le Monde and recently owner of Nice-Matin, concerning France-Antilles . the representative of the prosecution explained at the hearing that it was an "issue of public life: the maintenance of the daily press and its numerous jobs (235) in the territories which justifies the reopening of this file ".
A tender that runs until March 2
If the liquidation without continuation of activity was pronounced on January 30, the 235 employees still have not received their letter of dismissal, which means that they are still for the moment employees of the group, even if they do not not work. Indeed, the newspaper has ceased publication since February 1. The employees have therefore just obtained a stay since the court decision provides for the suspension of the dismissal procedures, the maintenance of the administrator and the publication of a call for tenders in a national newspaper.
This call for tenders runs until March 2 at 3 p.m. All offers, if any, will then be examined on March 10 at 2 p.m. at the Commercial Court. According to the administrator, there is enough to pay wages until March 10. This does not mean, however, a return to the newspaper kiosk. "There are a lot of contracts that have been suspended, orders that have been stopped, there is no more paper. So we will be paid with the money that remains in the treasury," said the employee representative. by Martinique Rodolphe Lamy.