French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire has welcomed the takeover of Renault supplier, Fonderies du Poitou d’Ingrandes-sur-Vienne, by GFG Alliance division, Liberty, saving 623 jobs.
Despite the good news concerning the rescue of the foundry, 109 posts will nonetheless be lost, adding to a sense of manufacturing woe surrounding traditional French production sectors, which are falling prey to the shift to megatrends such as electrification.
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The takeover – for an undisclosed purchase price – of Saint-Jean Industrie du Poitou and Fonderies du Poitou Fontes – has saved more jobs than first envisaged which will come as some relief to unions campaigning for their preservation.
“These two businesses have had to face significant difficulties for more than a year due to a drop in orders, financial fragility of their respective shareholders and their strong dependence on a single customer,” said a statement from Le Maire’s Finance Department.
“They had been put in receivership respectively on the 29 November, 2018 and 12 February, 2019. The takeover of both businesses which make up the Fonderies du Poitou marks the end of a process organised with the active and constant support of the State, under the aegis of the Interministerial Committee for Business Restructuring (Comité Interministériel aux Restructurations d’Entreprises).
“It will permit the continuation of 623 out of 732 industrial jobs at the Ingrandes-sur-Vienne site, with the main number of those leaving doing so on a voluntary basis. The Liberty offer thus allows the conservation of the large majority of posts and their skills.
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By GlobalData“The Ministers salute the spirit of great responsibility shown by unions and employees during this long process, despite being confronted with many uncertainties on the future of their sites. The Ministers equally acknowledge Renault’s attitude, which by its volume commitments, will allow for a takeover with satisfactory social conditions.”
News of the deal to broker the acquisition followed rulings by the Courts of Administration in Lyon and Poitiers, which allowed the purchase by GFG Alliance through its Liberty business.
GFG now says it will start a recovery plan for the plants including, what it describes as “a refreshed order book” and the introduction of the LMOS (Liberty Manufacturing Operating System), investments in equipment and improvements in maintenance.
The sites produce a range of components for automotive engine assemblies, with the businesses to be now known as Liberty Engineering Poitou, incorporating Liberty Aluminium Technologies Poitou and Liberty Cast Products Poitou.
“The acquisitions are an extension of GFG’s strategy for enlarging and diversifying its presence in the French industrial sector and further underline its role as a major industrial player in France,” said a GFG statement. “They also allow the Alliance to enact its strategy of acquiring assets that give it a platform to deliver growth in the future of Green Drive Trains, used in electric vehicles, which will require ever increasing amounts of aluminium.
“To that end, and in a move towards greater focus and consolidation, the Alliance is looking to mobilise its aluminium and other activities into more globally-oriented business lines, which would of course include the Poitou companies.”
These businesses enter the Alliance’s French portfolio alongside France’s second largest vehicle converter, Durisotti, France’s only manufacturer of aluminium wheels, now Liberty Wheels France and Europe’s largest aluminium smelter, Liberty Aluminium Dunkerque.
“We’ve been clear from the outset just how important the French market is for us and the acquisition of these specialist automotive suppliers is strategically very significant as we look to expand first domestically and then further afield, while also adding value and safeguarding jobs and skills,” noted Liberty Industries Group chief executive, Douglas Dawson.
“This clearly expands our market reach and builds on our goal of extending our capabilities as a Tier 1 supplier to the European auto sector. I look forward to visiting both sites shortly and welcoming our new colleagues to our French group of businesses.”
