Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Vencorex, a subsidiary of the Thai company PTT Global Chemical and manufacturer of tolonates, is being sold. The only takeover offer came from BorsodChem, a subsidiary of the Chinese competitor Wanhua. The proposal includes retaining 54 out of 464 employees at the Pont-de-Claix site and investing €10 million by 2027. Vencorex has been under judicial recovery since September 2024.
The offer sparked anger and disappointment among employees, leading to protests from October 23 to December 24. These protests halted operations at Vencorex and other subsidiaries, threatening in total an estimated 3,000 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs.
On December 24, an agreement was signed by all trade unions (CGT, CFDT, CFE-CGC) and the company board, with the CGT being the last to agree. The deal ended the strike and provided both €40,000 supra-legal severance bonus for each dismissed worker, and a 25% bonus starting February for employees helping to ensure safer operations during the transition. Unions remain dissatisfied with the number of jobs preserved and plan to continue pushing for improvements, keeping the option of future strikes on the table. Earlier, in mid-December, the unions requested Prime Minister François Bayrou to temporarily nationalize the company, but no response was received.
Update [15/04/2025] After a six-month extension granted by the Lyon Commercial Court and several attempts by the unions and employees to save the site, the company was finally liquidated. Of the original 450 employees, only 300 remained at the time of the ruling. The company was bought by BorsodChem, a subsidiary of the Chinese group Wanhua which plans to only keep 50 jobs.
A rival proposal by the workers, in the form of a cooperative society, was rejected due to lack of funds. The case attracted considerable political attention, including from former President François Hollande. However, the unions have strongly criticised the government's limited involvement and intervention throughout the process.
Eurofound (2024), Vencorex, Merger/Acquisition in France, factsheet number 202122, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/202122.
Eurofound’s ERM restructuring legislation database offers an overview of key restructuring-related regulations in the EU Member States and Norway. Its content is continuously updated to reflect any changes made by national legislators in response to, for instance, policy shifts, legal...
Can Europe still achieve its ambitions for battery manufacturing? To answer this, the article looks at data from Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor and explores what recent large-scale restructuring events reveal about the state of play in the EU battery sector.
This working paper offers a comprehensive methodological overview of the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) databases. Even though the methodology has not changed over time, new categories have been added, and the way it has been used by researchers and policymakers...
This Eurofound research paper explores key trends in restructuring in recent years, highlighting the companies that announced the largest job losses and job gains in the EU. It builds on an analysis of company announcements recorded in Eurofound’s European Restructuring...
In 2023, thousands of workers in big tech lost their jobs. Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce had been considered to offer good and secure jobs up to this point. Giants of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector,...
In 2024, the automotive sector in the EU came to the fore in public and policy discussions. The focus was on the slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, rising global competition, belated investments in new technologies, and the potential closure...
