Dairy group Lactalis appears poised to submit a takeover bid for its embattled French counterpart Entremont Alliance within the next week.
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The secretary of Entremont’s works council and Force Ouvrière union representative, Jacques Dechasse, told just food this morning (9 July) that Lactalis had originally been set to submit an offer today before Ciri, a French inter-ministerial committee specialising in restructuring firms in difficulty. Ciri is currently assessing solutions for Entremont.
However, Dechasse added that Lactalis’ bid had been postponed until 16 July.
Underlining the union’s opposition to a takeover by Lactalis and the “disastrous consequences” for Entremont’s workforce, Dechasse said: “Lactalis and Entremont are direct competitors and there would be overlap in a number of areas. Lactalis would also have a monopoly of the French market for emmental, which could raise regulatory issues.”
No one at Lactalis was immediately available for comment.
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By GlobalDataA spokesman for Entremont told just-food that if Lactalis does make an offer – and there are strong indications the company will – it would very likely be tendered in the second half of July.
Entremont made losses of EUR34m (US$47.5m) in 2008 and of EUR10m in the first quarter of this year and has estimated debts of EUR376m.
