Toulouse Court Orders Liquidation of Fibre Excellence in Saint-Gaudens
Liquidation hits Saint-Gaudens as the commercial court in Toulouse ends operations for Fibre Excellence after missed deadlines for a takeover bid.
The Toulouse commercial court formally pronounced the judicial liquidation of the Saint-Gaudens pulp mill on Thursday, November 12, according to reports by La Dépêche. The decision eliminates the remaining timeline for rescue packages after deadlines for formal takeover submissions lapsed. The ruling affects roughly 250 jobs directly at the Haute-Garonne production site, compounding the collapse of the company’s sister plant in Tarascon, Bouches-du-Rhône, which entered liquidation in late July.
The company operated under judicial receivership starting in April. Regional authorities and industrial partners submitted a joint rescue proposal in late August. That dossier included a 200-million-euro backing plan from the Portuguese hygiene product manufacturer Ghost to restart pulp manufacturing and auxiliary operations.
Missed procedural cutoffs derailed the rescue schedule before magistrates finalized the closure. “On n’a pas précisément de dates concernant les prochaines échéances de l’industriel, de calendrier,” Nicolas Bruel, a CGT delegate, told La Dépêche.
“On se doutait que le temps de la procédure judiciaire ne suffirait pas à l’industriel pour rendre un dossier complet et précis, qu’il aurait besoin de plus de temps,” Bruel told La Dépêche regarding the viability of the Portuguese investor’s timeline.
Operations at the headquarters in Labège, near Toulouse, face total workforce reduction alongside the industrial site. The court action orders the dismissal of roughly 300 total employees across the corporate headquarters and the Saint-Gaudens manufacturing plant, Le Figaro reported.
Workers enter an interim phase utilizing professional securement contracts, known as a CSP, designed to provide training and support during the transition. The regional administration and the Portuguese investor maintain that a new project could materialize within the coming year, though no formal filing date binds the parties to a schedule.