Paris (AFP)
Naturalia withdrew from the race by evoking "gray areas", but several distributors have filed solid files to try to take over the specialist Bio C'Bon, placed in receivership at the beginning of September and which has a thousand or so employees.
Biocoop: the organic specialist's menu
Block out "mass distribution" by keeping Bio C'Bon in the bosom of a "specialized organic network": this is the argument of Biocoop, the leader in the sector which relies on the support of local elected officials.
He joined forces with another specialist, Marcel & Fils, established above all in the south-east of France, in particular to guard against objections from the Competition Authority.
The two brands plan to take over 105 stores, 72 for Biocoop and 33 for Marcel & Fils.
And "100% of employees, in stores, logistics or at the head office", according to the president of Biocoop, Pierrick De Ronne.
On the other hand, they do not take over the logistics tool and the head office, because "if the situation is there, it is because of these somewhat oversized tools".
Initially, the two bidders proposed a sale price, which serves in particular to settle the liabilities of Bio C'Bon, very low, at 15 euros for Biocoop, 11 euros for Marcel & Fils.
According to Pierrick De Ronne, they plan to "increase it substantially".
In addition, respectively 13.3 million euros and 10 million euros are planned for investments to renovate the park taken over.
Carrefour: big investments
Representative of this "large distribution", Carrefour relies on the expertise of its "Mr. Bio" Benoît Soury, former manager of La Vie claire, to defend a large takeover project: 107 points of sale as well as the headquarters of the group resumed, reclassification solutions "offered to 100% of employees working on the Aix-en-Provence and Athis-Mons sites", ie a total of 1,029 employees resumed or reclassified.
In terms of investments too, Carrefour displays its ambitions: overall sale price of 40 million euros, to which are added more than 34 million euros of investments, all "financed by equity".
Zouari: 120 stores taken over
The Zouari group, franchisee of the Casino group and shareholder of Picard frozen foods, figures the overall sale price at 2.5 million euros.
It plans to take over 120 stores, or 100% of the park, "100% of the store staff" and "100% of the logistics staff and all administrative staff", according to a letter to employees consulted by AFP.
With the former director general of Biocoop Gilles Piquet-Pellorce in charge, Zouari also promises "70 million euros" in investments, "on equity", in particular for the renovation of stores.
As well as the opening of the capital of the takeover structure to employees, up to 5%.
The group finally offers some 2,850 individuals who had invested in the development of the company and fear losing their stake - which they estimate in total at 114 million euros - "to invest in a holding company shareholder of the structure of takeover and benefit from a liquidity clause for their securities ".
Auchan: discretion
The food distributor of the Mulliez galaxy has submitted an offer for 57 stores and 318 jobs, particularly in Ile-de-France (38 stores, 220 jobs).
Auchan explains that it wants to "reach out to its customers through a network of stores located in the heart of the places where they live", and "to win over new customers with aspirations to consume better, healthy and local".
He would operate the stores "under one of the brands of the Auchan group", he indicates, specifying that there would be "the emphasis on the offer of organic products", and proposes a sale price of 5 millions of euros.
It does not indicate the investment it would like to make within the Bio C'Bon network in the event of a takeover.
Naturalia cooled by "gray areas"
Another cador had made a name for itself, the Casino group through its specialist brand Naturalia.
Associated with Bernardo Sanchez Incera, former manager of Monoprix or Zara France, the brand planned to take over a total of 85 stores, including 28 for Naturalia.
"We felt that multiple gray areas do not allow us to conclude that there is no risk on this recovery," explained Naturalia boss Allon Zeitoun in early October.
© 2020 AFP