End of the line for Jourdan in France
18/12/2007
The latest attempts to keep production of Charles Jourdan footwear in France have failed and a court in the town of Romans has declared the company bankrupt. All 197 workers in the company's factory in Romans have lost their jobs.
The troubled company has been subject to judicial enquiry for months and current chief executive, Yannis Bilquez, has been arrested and put in prison in Switzerland.
Company employees had been hoping a buyer would come forward to preserve production of the brand's luxury footwear on home soil. All hopes ended this week when a US company, Omniscent, pulled out of a deal.
Paris-based daily Le Monde reported that the court was on the point of approving Omniscent's take-over, with the US firm's two stipulated conditions—that Mr Bilquez must resign and that it must receive ownership of the rights to sell under the Charles Jourdan brand name throughout Europe—having been met.
However, according to the newspaper, Omniscent then presented a third condition at the eleventh hour: it would only take over the operation in Romans if sales rights in the North American market came with it. Unfortunately, the Swiss equity firm that owns the Charles Jourdan brand had already sold the North American rights to the name to Florida-based BBC International.
Union officials, speaking on behalf of the workers who have lost their jobs, said they felt that Omniscent had led them up the garden path. After a visit to the facility in Romans, Omniscent founder, Lucien Lallouz, a French-speaking Canadian, said he had "fallen in love" with the craftsmanship on display there and pledged to put together a plan that would keep production in France and save most of the jobs.
A lawyer speaking on behalf of Omniscent told Le Monde that he could understand the workers' disappointment, but insisted his clients had tried very hard to reach an agreement with BBC International. "I wouldn't be surprised now to see BBC step in and claim the sales rights for Europe too," he added. "It was very much in BBC's interests for Charles Jourdan to go into liquidation."
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