2023-04-28 14:49:42
The Grenoble commercial court chose the Intersport cooperative to take over the struggling group Go Sport, judging its offer better than that of its main competitor Frasers-Sports Direct, according to a judgment rendered on Friday April 28.
The court thus followed “the unanimous opinion of the prosecution, creditors and employees”, underlines the deputy prosecutor François Touret de Coucy in a press release. According to him, Intersport undertakes to resume “72 stores corresponding to 90% of jobs”for a price of 35 million euros, against 10 million offered by his rival.
“We are delighted with this decision and this favorable outcome for the future of Go Sport and its employees”commented in a press release the current owner, the Hermione People Brand (HPB) group, one of the subsidiaries of the empire of Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon, in the midst of financial and legal turmoil.
Frasers, another favorite
The offers of Intersport France and Frasers had appeared from the start as the best placed to win against those of the other candidates, who only offered partial takeovers of its assets and employees.
“Go Sport looks like us, with hiking, skiing, cycling… and similar employee profiles as DNA. And we have a geographical complementarity: where Intersport is weak, Paris and the Paris region, Go Sport has a strong network. And Go Sport is rather absent from areas, in the provinces, where we are very strong.Intersport CEO Jacky Rihouet explained to AFP in March.
The other favorite in the race, the British group Frasers, was counting on the “perfect synergy” between the two companies, particularly in France, where it currently only has seven stores.
But the representative of Sports direct repeatedly indicated during the hearing “on the one hand that he could not provide any guarantee on the maintenance of employment within 2 years, and on the other hand that the Go Sport brand had no future”emphasizes the judgment while noting that at “in terms of social criteria, Intersport’s offer was the best bidder”.
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