Sale of French pork company gets green light

Sale French pork company gets green light

The sale of the French abattoir and pork company GAD to SVA Jean Rozé, the meat branch of the supermarket chain Intermarché, has been given the green light by the court of commerce in Rennes.

The deal means that 530 of the current 755 employees of GAD can keep their jobs. The other 225 will be laid off, although Intermarché intends to find other jobs for at least 123 of them within the company. In early 2013, GAD already closed two other sites with the loss of 800 jobs.

Intermarché was the only candidate interested in GAD, which had filed for bankrupcy about 20 months ago. The new owner will rename the company Josselin Porcs Abattage. SVA Jean Rozé has promised to invest €20 million to modernise the site.

”That proves that we are in it for the long term. We’re not buying a company like this to close it again after a year or so. We want to restructure and modernise the company in order to make it more competitive,” managing director Dominique Langlois said. French agricultural minister Stéphane le Foll, who followed the dossier closely, commented he was relieved the court approved the deal to save the pork company.