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.
The Commercial court of Nanterre has decided the liquidation of the Arjowiggins plant at Bessé-sur-Braye (Sarthe) and the loss of 751 jobs at various group sites: 568 jobs were cut at Bessé-sur-Braye, where the plant is closed, 143 at Saint-Mars-la-Brière (Sarthe) and 40 at the head office in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine). 191 other French jobs have been secured thanks to buyers at the Saint-Mars-la-Brière site which has been partially taken over (117 jobs are kept out of 260) and at the Château-Thierry factory (Aisne, 74 jobs) taken over by the German group Wepa without any job cuts. According to management, the soaring pulp prices have put the company in difficulty.
Nearly 1,000 indirect jobs are at risk. In Bessé-sur-Braye, the impact is considerable. There are no other major employers in this rural employment area. Moreover, it is particularly isolated, far from rail and highways, making any attempt at reindustrialisation unlikely. The nearest employment area, La Ferté-Bernard, is 50 minutes by car, and Le Mans is one hour away. In January 2019, Arjowiggins closed a factory at Jouy-sur-Morin (Seine-et-Marne) with 200 job cuts.
Eurofound (2019), Arjowiggins, Bankruptcy in France, factsheet number 97524, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/97524.