The Grenoble Commercial Court on Tuesday examined Go Sport’s takeover bids after taking note of the withdrawal of its current owner, Hermione, People & Brands (HPB), one of the companies in the Ohayon empire, and put its decision up for consultation. on April 28. The afternoon hearing was dedicated to the twenty acquisition offers, among which two focused the hopes of the employees: those of the British Frasers and Intersport France.
However, the sporting goods distributor’s 2,200 employees will have to wait until April 28 to learn the name of the buyer from Groupe Go Sport and its subsidiary Go Sport France. In the midst of the financial turmoil, Michel Ohayon had delegated on Tuesday a manager of the Financière immobilière bordelaise (FIB), the holding company of his empire, to officially inform the court of the withdrawal of HPB, announced on Monday night. in a press release. Me Spizzichino, HPB’s lawyer, stated that his clients had been “prevented from presenting a recovery plan”, specifying that they reserved the right to appeal against the procedure, but “not against the decision of a disposal plan”.
This lack of appeal against the transfer plan was greeted with a “sigh of relief” from Go Sport employees who “want to get out of Michel Ohayon’s bosom,” according to CSE lawyer Evelyn Bledniak.
“We will be able to plan the future in our heads,” said Laurence Labaurie of the FO union. Thanks to potential buyers, “Go Sport is not going to die (…) It is unexpected not to end up like Camaïeu”.
Following the liquidation of the Camaïeu brand (2,600 employees) in September, the HPB group’s holding company, Financière immobilière bordelaise (FIB), became insolvent, the Gap brand (350 employees) was placed in receivership and 25 Galeries Lafayette stores were placed in safeguard procedures.
“The court will decide”
In its final offer, Frasers subsidiary Sports Direct agrees to take over 75 stores, instead of the 74 initially announced, and 136 of the headquarters’ 227 employees, instead of the 117 initially assumed. In stores, Sports Direct is committed to hiring 1,477 employees, of the 1,574 identified. An offer with “surprises”, commented Me Bledniak at the end of the hearing. According to her, the possibility of “dismissals for economic reasons” and “certain closures” is contrary to the “oral” guarantees given to employees. Sports Direct also indicates that it wants, “in a reasoned and progressive way over the next three or four years,” to bring Go Sport stores under the Sports Direct brand.
On the contrary, its reputation has often been tarnished by its social practices, which have come under heavy criticism in the past, particularly regarding the working conditions of its employees. For its part, Intersport France has made a proposal to take over a joint venture with a Qatari company, Al-Mana, and proposes to take over 72 stores, 1,446 employees of the 1,574 stores and 185 employees of the headquarters (Groupe Go Sport ), according to the file consulted by AFP.
The other buyers are local companies, some of which are franchised under the Sport 2000 brand, or groups like Centrakor Stores, La Foir’Fouille or even Lidl. They propose partial acquisitions of Go Sport assets and employees. The “small” candidates for recovery paraded in turn on Tuesday afternoon in the courts. The Terre de Running company, for example, proposes to take over the Endurance Shop brand and its employees.
Groupe Go Sport brings together the activities of the distributor’s headquarters, in Sassenage, near Grenoble, and 46 master franchise stores internationally. Go Sport France brings together 82 integrated stores, 87 franchised stores (Go Sport and Endurance Shop), as well as online sales.
Source: BFM TV
