Pierre Heschung is relieved. The court of Saverne (Bas-Rhin) accepted its offer to take over the Alsatian brand of shoes that bears its name, placed in receivership in April. The grandson of the founder of Heschung joined forces with Philippe Catteau, entrepreneur from the North and heir to the Catteau distribution group sold in 1992 to the British Tesco.
The latter will eventually hold 60% of the capital of the company founded in 1934, with PPL Finance, while Mr. Heschung will retain 40%. All 65 employees retain their positions, particularly in the factory located in Steinbourg (Bas-Rhin).
Heschung is thus turning the page on the French Legacy Group (FLG) adventure, an entity owned by the Mirabaud Living Heritage Investment Fund, which took over this SME in 2021, before it was placed in receivership in the spring of 2023.
Two black years
Mr. Heschung is hopeful that he will not have “to relive what he lived” in the lap of the fund led by Renaud Dutreil, former Secretary of State in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), whose cash agreements had endangered his company. He is delighted to have found in Mr. Catteau an entrepreneur who “invests personally”.
After two black years, following the pandemic due to Covid-19, the loss-making brand saw its activity rebound by 29% in 2022, compared to 2021, to 8.5 million euros. Mr. Heschung intends to reconnect with investment to modernize his Alsatian production workshop specializing in Norwegian sewn and Goodyear assembly of soles. A first envelope of 1.5 million euros is already planned.
This takeover comes a few days after that of Clergerie, another shoe brand owned by FLG. The Paris Commercial Court upheld Titan Industries’ takeover bid on June 29. The American group has taken over only part of the staff, in particular in the historic factory in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme): 79 of the 140 employees have been made redundant.