July 9, 2012

 

France's Doux gets 11 takeover bids

 

 

Threatening the livelihood of 3,400 workers and 800 farmers in France, poultry group Doux has attracted 11 takeover offers, unions at the firm said.

 

Bidders included rival poultry producers LDC and Tilly Sabco, co-operative Terrena, agribusiness firm La Financière Turenne La Fayette, and a consortium led by oilseed group Sofiproteol, union officials said.

 

Doux's administrators had organised a bidding round with a deadline for offers on Thursday (July 12) as part of efforts to rescue one of the world's largest poultry exporters.

 

The government, which has been pushing for a buyer for the whole group to protect as many jobs as possible with French unemployment at its highest since 1999, had said earlier it was not satisfied with an initial offer from Sofiproteol's consortium.

 

At a meeting of Doux's works council on Friday (July 6), Chairman Charles Doux, whose family owns 80% of the firm, said he would make an alternative proposal in coming days to maintain the group's activities at least until December, union officials said.

 

Terrena - parent of major French poultry producer Gastronom - bid EUR24.7 million (US$30.4 million) for three sites, while La Financière Turenne La Fayette had provisionally offered EUR25 million (US$31 million) for two sites, Yannick Guehenno of the FO union told Reuters.

 

Tilly-Sabco confirmed in a statement an offer for the export operations of Doux, which include two plants, pledging to maintain 588 permanent jobs. Unions reacted angrily to the offers, which they said only covered some sites and would not preserve the group.

 

"What is being proposed is the dismantling of the group," Joseph d'Angelo of the CGT union, told Reuters. "The government has to assume its responsibilities."

 

Union officials also said the composition of the consortium led by Sofiproteol had changed, with LDC and Tilly-Sabco no longer taking part, leaving Sofiproteol with its unit Glon Sanders, poultry maker Duc and co-operative Triskalia.

 

French oilseed company Sofiprotéol is heading up a takeover bid for the embattled French poultry company Doux and had announced its consortium's offer on Thursday (July 5), could not be reached for comment.

 

"We think there's room for improvement on the broad outline that they presented to us, both in industrial and social terms," the spokesman for Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll told Reuters.

 

Sofiprotéol said that the offer is a response to the seriousness of the social and economic situation caused by the bankruptcy of Doux, the hardship placed on the group's 3,400 employees, 800 farmers and the economy of the region. The bid comes from the French industrial poultry sector that is already engaged with the breeders and is located in the region.

 

Sofiprotéol said that the bid is a coordinated offer and takes into account Doux's global business and is response to the wishes of government.

 

It also provides opportunities for farmers in the region and aims to preserve jobs, while taking care not to weaken the companies involved in the recovery.

 

This offer aims to restructure the entire French poultry sector.

 

A commercial court in northwest France is due to consider the bids at a hearing on July 23, union officials said.

 

The consortium includes some of FRance's leading poultry companies including Glon Sanders, a subsidiary of Sofiprotéol, Duc, LDC, Terrena, Tilly-Sabco and Triskalia.

 

The offer was filed Thursday (July 5) with the administrator, the closing date for bids for the company.