the justice returns its decision to December 12

It was expected: the final decision on the Ascoval case was postponed. The Chamber of Commerce of the High Court of Strasbourg decided on Wednesday to return to December 12 its decision on a recovery of the steelworks of Saint-Saulve (North), in receivership. This new deadline, after a suspension of two weeks granted at the end of October, must validate the offer of takeover of the French-Belgian Altifort and find an agreement with Vallourec, shareholder and sole current customer of the steel mill, said representatives staff and Altifort after a very short hearing.

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Last Wednesday, the plan to take over the plant by the French-Belgian group Altifort, the only candidate to buy the steel plant, was considered "solid" and credible "by the consulting firm Roland Berger, mandated by Bercy. Nevertheless, Altifort's persistent financial weaknesses and backlog for the Ascoval plant were highlighted. The Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire, who had then called the offer of Altifort "luck for the Ascoval site that deserves to be played," had indicated however give themselves "until early December to settle the two subjects that are on the table, and on which it is now necessary to provide very concrete answers so that the offer can be realized ". Namely: the sources of financing that must be made public, and the order book.

A takeover offer to consolidate

The Altifort group had initially submitted a takeover bid which implied that the French steelmaker Vallourec, a 40% shareholder in Ascoval and the current main customer of the plant, would maintain its level of control for 18 months. However, the specialist in seamless steel tubes, affected by a net loss of 307 million euros in the first half, had refused this option. Bercy therefore finally asked Altifort to review its copy by excluding any Vallourec shareholding, of which the State is a 17% shareholder, and to modify the economic model of the Ascoval production plant, by encouraging it on the one hand to seek new customers in order to diversify its products, and on the other hand by renouncing to the manufacture of ordinary steel, unprofitable compared to the competition of big steelmakers.

The new plan drawn up by Altifort following the Ministry's remarks foresees the development of an offer on higher value-added materials, in particular by focusing on high-end special steels.

Macron will not go

Emmanuel Macron has also shown voluntarism in the Ascoval case. In an interview granted Sunday to the journalists of the Picard courier, of thea Voice of the North and of The union, the head of state said he was optimistic about the "future" of the steel mill and wished to rebadure the 281 employees who blocked the site for a week, before finally returning to work Monday morning. The Head of State promised that "things will be done, simply because those who work there deserve it". A time envisaged for this Wednesday, a presidential visit on the site of the steel mill is finally not planned, learned Le Figaro Tuesday evening.