Paris (AFP)

The Courtepaille grill restaurant brand, put in difficulty by the Covid-19 pandemic, will be taken over by its competitor Buffalo Grill, whose offer was preferred to that of Groupe Bertrand, announced Friday the commercial court of Evry (Essonne).

The court deemed "the best bidder" the offer of Buffalo Grill, both socially with "the takeover of 2,208 employees", and financial with "a sale price of 17 million euros" for Courtepaille which represents some 4,000 jobs and had been placed in receivership on July 29.

The chosen buyer "and its management also present a know-how" recognized in the sector, estimated the court, with an offer proposing a "more ambitious business plan both in its scope and in its objectives of return to profitability based on a project similar (...) to that applied apparently successfully to Buffalo Grill ", indicates the judgment, which AFP obtained.

Buffalo Grill's shareholder, the TDR fund, has also "been able to make decisive financial efforts in the recent past" and thus demonstrated "that it was capable of making a significant effort" to support the badly affected brand, such as the whole sector, by the health crisis.

Owned by the British fund ICG since 2011, Courtepaille was placed in receivership on July 29 by the commercial court of Evry-Courcouronnes (Essonne), after a drop in activity due to the coronavirus and the refusal of a loan guaranteed by the State (PGE).

The family restaurant chain born in 1961 has seen its turnover, from 190 million euros in 2019, fall by 40% since the beginning of the year.

On the union side, the time was for relief: "the CGT is completely satisfied with this judgment. There will be fewer layoffs. Buffalo was our preferred candidate. For us, the primary criterion has always been employment", declared to AFP Pascal Zoublir, CGT delegate of the company.

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