Supermarket trolley manufacturer Caddie to be liquidated, announces CSE lawyer

The commercial chamber of the Saverne judicial court is due to give its formal decision at 2 p.m. this Tuesday. 110 jobs are under threat.

The supermarket trolley manufacturer Caddie is to be placed in liquidation by the Saverne court (Bas-Rhin) due to the lack of a viable takeover solution, announced on Tuesday 16 July the lawyer for the company’s Social and Economic Committee, Pierre Dulmet.

“We have a deliberation this afternoon and there will be no buyer. We are heading towards a hard liquidation,” said Pierre Dulmet at the end of the hearing before the commercial chamber of the Saverne judicial court, which is due to give its formal decision at 2 p.m. The company still employed 110 employees.

The court was to consider two offers filed at the end of June, after Caddie was placed in receivership with continued activity. One came from the current owner, the Cochez group, based in Valenciennes (North) and specializing in transport and industrial services. The other was filed by the Skade Management company of Stéphane Dedieu, former owner of Caddie.

“The prosecutor did not accept Mr. Cochez’s offer, he did not have the right to present his offer”, has continued Pierre Dulmet at the end of the hearing which lasted a little less than an hour on Tuesday morning. “And Stéphane Dedieu had not presented his suspensive conditions, so he did not present his offer. His lawyer came to say: ‘I am not presenting my offer’. So the court does not have a takeover proposal to study, which means that this afternoon, it will formalize the total cessation of Caddie’s activity.”

The lawyer, visibly moved, addressed several employees and union representatives present before the court: “You have been exemplary in this case, you have fought hard, but four receiverships were one too many. The court said stop, there are too many debts, not enough industrial projects, and they are stopping the destruction.” Caddie has undergone four receivership proceedings since 2012.

Faced with a depleted cash flow, the company was placed in liquidation with continued trading on June 25 by the Saverne court, a procedure which enabled the wage guarantee insurance mechanism (AGS) to be triggered so that employees could be paid.