The Alsatian company Caddy, in receivership, will receive an exceptional public loan “several hundred thousand euros” in particular in order to “cover wages” of the 140 employees during the observation period, we learned Tuesday from Bercy and a union source.
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During a situation update with the trade unions and the Grand Est Region, “we have announced exceptional support from the state side” of “several hundred thousand euros” in the form of a loan paid “in the next few days”, we said to the Ministry of the Economy, without specifying the amount of the loan. According to the CFTC secretary of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) of Caddie, Luc Strohmenger, it is a loan of “400,000 euros” consented “for half” by the State and by the Region. “It’s a big relief, it makes it possible to pay January wages and continue production”he told AFP.
According to him, the Caddy unions were received by an adviser from the Élysée during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Strasbourg last Wednesday. “We asked for help because, given the little money available, we could not have held the observation period”explained Luc Strohmenger. “The idea is that the company can pay the minimum expenses” : wages, electricity bills, gas …, we indicated to the ministry, welcoming “the spirit of responsibility” of employees in a “very tense situation”.
“Big difficulties in paying the bills”
Based in Dettwiller (Bas-Rhin), Caddy, whose name has become the symbol of supermarket trolleys, was placed on January 5 in receivership by the commercial chamber of the Saverne court, which left until February 22 to the company to find a buyer. “There are great difficulties today to pay the bills, given the conditions of the bankruptcy filing, the cash flow was extremely low”we added to Bercy, who works “in connection with the regional development agency” to find a buyer.
According to Luc Strohmenger, no firm offer has yet been submitted but the site is the subject of many visits. “There is strong state support in this case”we insisted with Bercy, recalling that Caddy had benefited in March 2021 from a “subsidized loan from the State (…) of 4 million euros”.