Moroccan Firm Eyes Takeover of Bankrupt French Steel Foundry, Potentially Saving Jobs

Les Fonderies du Nord, located on Rue de Merville, have been placed in judicial liquidation. At the hearing on Tuesday before the Dunkirk commercial court, its managers were able to obtain a stay until September 30, in the hope that a foreign company would come forward to buy the company and save the 22 threatened jobs, reports La Voix du Nord.

"A foreign company, from Morocco, is very interested, it came to visit our premises at the end of July and has mandated the Deloitte firm to respond to the takeover call for tenders. But the deadlines are short, especially when you see the French bureaucracy. This extension of activity should allow it to finalize its file," said François Ségard, the director of the Fonderies.

The manager is aware of the difficulties and debts of the structure due to the changes in the metallurgy sector. "It’s been twenty years that we’ve been deindustrializing the country, we’re subcontractors for large companies that have relocated. The current conflict with Russia is not the first one we’ve been through. [...] We’ve lost markets, turnover has fallen, we’ve had trouble paying our social security contributions," he explains.

For their part, the desperate employees express their "fed up". "What we want is to leave and turn the page... The difficulties are not new and with the increase in the price of raw materials, activity was slowing down," says Patrick Turpin, CGT union delegate. Les Fonderies du Nord were created in May 1963 by Robert Ségard and collaborate with major names in French industry such as PSA (Peugeot-Citroën) or RNUR (Renault).