The Grenoble commercial court, which heard on Monday the representatives of some 2,000 employees, very concerned about the financial situation of Go Sport, as well as the company’s management, will make its decision on Wednesday. The purpose of this hearing behind closed doors was to verify that the company is not in a situation of cessation of payments in the short term.
Like the Camaïeu ready-to-wear chain, liquidated at the end of September, with its 2,100 employees laid off, its shares liquidated and the brand sold at auction, Go Sport is a subsidiary of Hermione, People and Brands (HPB), owned by Bordeaux investor Michel Ohayon.
An outdated report requested by HPB management
Go Sport auditors, as well as an independent expert appointed by CSEC elected officials, presented a final report on the status of default since the October-November period on Monday. HPB’s management retaliated at the hearing with another independent brief, issuing a non-default statement and promising a cash-positive return in the very near future. “But this report was made on the basis of incomplete information because it stopped at the end of November and the question is: what about today?” asked Me Bledniak, while HPB representatives declined to comment. If the suspension of payments is characterized, a procedure of suspension of payments will be opened.
HPB, for her part, had requested a more confidential conciliation procedure that would have allowed her to choose her own conciliator. The group also expressed, during the hearing, its desire to sell Go Sport if a settlement was opened. The employees hope to save their business. “A transfer is always worrying, because there may be a social plan, store closures. We are here to preserve the 2,160 employees of Go Sport”, says Christophe Lavalle, delegate of Force Ouvrière and member of the CSEC.
“We don’t want to end up like Camaïeu”
The economic alert procedures had been initiated in October by the auditors and by the CSEC, concerned about the fate of Camaïeu. CSEC elected officials also discovered that money transfers had been made, for an estimated amount of 36.3 million euros, on the cash flow from Go Sport to HPB, according to the expert report presented Monday before the commercial court. .
“We are waiting and we trust justice,” several CSEC elected officials said after the hearing, ruling out going on strike “that would penalize the company.” “The situation is still worrying for us, but we have been heard. We don’t want to end up like Camaïeu,” said Christophe Lavalle.
At losses for years, Go Sport, founded in 1978 and based in Sassenage in Isère, had been bought at the end of 2021 for a symbolic euro by HPB from the parent company of the Casino food distribution group, the Rallye company, even in big measure. in debt.
Source: BFM TV
