If, with the health crisis linked to Covid-19, the DIY market is on the rise, Lapeyre is in turmoil. This specialist in home equipment has been at the heart of an economic and financial imbroglio since Saint-Gobain announced, on November 9, 2020, that it was in exclusive negotiations with the German recovery fund Mutares to sell its ten factories in France and 126 stores grouped under the Distrilap entity.
To get out of Lapeyre, which has been in deficit since 2012, Saint-Gobain would bring 243 million euros to the new company. Mutares would inject 15 million into the machine. As for the rest of the necessary financing, it would be met by the sale of store walls, to the tune of 93 million euros. However, the operation, which was to be completed in the first quarter of 2021, is behind schedule.
Worried about falling into the hands of an investment fund, the employees of the Lapeyre stores tried everything to slow down the process. “We fear the worst. We won’t hold out for more than three years. Then we will close in silence. No one will remember us. The aim is not to give Saint-Gobain bad publicity ”, fears Mohamed Ben Ahmed, FO central union delegate.
Strategic plan
It must be said that at the end of 2020, documents emanating from a strategic plan dated September leaked in the press. They mention “933 job cuts by 2023”, out of a total of 3,500 positions. Mutares denies, evoking “Working documents (…) today outdated and obsolete ” because “Built prior to the arrival of Marc Ténart in the project” who “Saved 6,500 jobs within Conforama”, which he was in charge of before his takeover by But.
Also working with the Kingfisher group (Castorama, Brico Dépôt, etc.), Mr. Ténart, the future president of Lapeyre, was responsible for establishing the strategic plan. “They told us that the economic situation had changed, that there was now only one store in the red. But it is also because with the Covid and short-time working, the picture has improved because staff costs have been reduced ”, launches Hervé Grillon, central union delegate at the CGT.
Above all, when employee representatives consult certain documents related to the sale of their company, between February 15 and March 8, they make a discovery. “Mutares’ plan corresponded well to the document which had leaked a few months earlier and which we were told was obsolete”, chokes Mr. Ben Ahmed. They also learned of the closure of the Giraud, Ouest Production, Azur Production and SBL factories, scheduled for the end of 2022.
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