The Brandt Household Appliances Group Placed in Liquidation, 700 Jobs Lost

The courts declared this Thursday the liquidation of the century-old household appliances group Brandt, leading to the elimination of around 700 jobs

Justice pronounced this Thursday the liquidation from the century-old household appliances group Brandt. This French industrial flagship was in great difficulty since its placement in judicial recovery.

“This is terrible news, a shock and a very hard blow to French industry”, reacted the president of the region Centre-val-de-loire, François Bonneau, who made the announcement. He speaks of a “trauma” for the group’s approximately 700 jobs lost after this decision by the economic affairs court Nanterre.

A Scop project (cooperative and participatory company), supported by the Revive group, had however been submitted a week earlier. It would have saved at least 370 jobs. This offer, presented as the last chance, had received broad support from the public authorities in recent days and was supported by a majority of employees. It was therefore not considered sufficiently relevant by the courts.

With the exception of this Scop, no takeover offer had been submitted. According to experts’ estimates, between 20 and 25 million euros seemed necessary to revive the company’s activity. The government had announced state support to the tune of 5 million euros, followed by the Centre-Val-de-Loire region, which could have released around 7 million euros in total, just like the metropolis of Orléans.

Despite 20 million euros in public commitments

“When we add it all up, we are at nearly 20 million euros in public commitments” devoted to the “restart” of two factories, François Bonneau said at the end of the audience. This commitment from public partners was not considered sufficient by the Nanterre court.

The Minister of Economy and Finance Roland Lescure, and his colleague in charge of Industry, Sébastien Martin deplored that despite the support of the State and communities, the other essential actors did not wish to position themselves to save Brandt. The ministers probably designate, without naming them, the banks. The government had them in recent days to “play the game”. Their support is essential to convince the court of the viability of the only takeover project submitted.

The group’s two factories are located near Orleans (Loiret), and in Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher). Brandt also has an after-sales service center in the Paris region, in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône (Val-d’oise). Its head office is located in Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine). Brandt, owned since 2014 by the Algerian group Cevital, achieves 260 million euros in turnover.