Overview
- The Tribunal de commerce de Toulouse on Wednesday reviewed the only takeover offer for Fibre Excellence and will deliver its ruling within eight to ten days.
- Both Fibre Excellence plants have been idle since the company entered redressement judiciaire at the end of April, putting about 670 direct jobs at risk on the two sites.
- The takeover proposal is led by the company’s current management and backed by the Occitanie and Provence‑Alpes‑Côte d’Azur regions, and it is conditioned on public support including a revaluation of the electricity sale tariff.
- The Industry Ministry has expressed doubts about the offer’s financial guarantees, while unions and local officials say new investors have joined the project and are seeking more time to strengthen the bid.
- If the group is liquidated, the two plants’ near‑2 million tonnes a year wood intake would vanish, risking bankruptcies for forest contractors, lost outlets for low‑value wood and growing stockpiles that could raise wildfire danger.