Based in 1945 and situated close to Orléans, within the Loiret, the Duralex glassmaker finds itself as soon as once more in a tough financial state of affairs. Two years after the takeover of the corporate in the form of Scop by its workers, it was placed in receivership on June 1. And that will not be sufficient since administration introduced on Thursday that Duralex was now on the market.
Duralex’s journey has not been clean crusing since 60% of the 245 workers took over the corporate within the type of a cooperative in 2024. Two years later, the glassmaker’s recurring monetary difficulties led to a brand new placement in receivership, the fifth in round twenty years.
“We’re formally on the lookout for a purchaser”
Within the course of, François Marciano, former basic supervisor, and his son Antoine, monetary director, were fired. Every week in the past, the brand new administration introduced to workers that the manufacturing strains can be cut off for at least fifteen days to economize and safe 1.4 million euros in late orders.
It’s on this context, and fewer than two weeks earlier than the subsequent listening to on the business courtroom, that Duralex made a brand new announcement: “to be able to maintain the financial state of affairs, we’re formally on the lookout for a purchaser to assist us as a part of a sale plan”. Gives should be submitted “no later than August 6 at midday”.
Duralex is subsequently on the market, and the figures declared to draw consumers usually are not so unhealthy. Administration notably experiences a 2024/2025 turnover of 39 million euros whereas the previous basic supervisor, François Marciano, was relying on 35 million in 2027 to return to monetary stability. Observers had described this goal as untenable. Duralex additionally experiences vital shares, valued at 24 million euros.
“The corporate has a sure industrial future”
For the Normal Confederation of Scop (CG Scop), Duralex’s state of affairs “shouldn’t be because of the cooperative mannequin”, however relatively to “an underfunded restoration”. CG Scop considers that the resale is a “logical step in view of the corporate’s money move state of affairs”, and affirming that “the corporate has a sure industrial future”, significantly in view of a “rising order ebook”.
For its half, the citizen funding group Lita is apprehensive about 11,000 private investors “who mobilized 7 million euros of financial savings to assist this industrial challenge”. The group acknowledges that at this stage, “nothing ensures” that holders of fairness securities will likely be taken under consideration within the supply which will likely be accepted by the business courtroom. In different phrases, these 11,000 small traders might by no means see their cash once more.
