French pulp producer Fibre Excellence has entered a new phase in its restructuring after management withdrew its takeover bid, allowing a new investor to prepare a revised rescue proposal ahead of a decisive court hearing on 6 July.<\/p>\n
The decision marks the latest development in a process that began in April, when the company filed for court protection after months of financial pressure despite receiving government support measures aimed at restoring its competitiveness.<\/p>\n
Chief Executive Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Guillot said the management team had decided to withdraw its own offer following the unexpected arrival of French financier Matthieu Pigasse, who expressed interest in backing a new rescue plan.<\/p>\n
\"I have chosen to act responsibly in order to allow the implementation of the new governance requested by our public and union partners and to facilitate the development of a sustainable solution for the group,\" Guillot said.<\/p>\n
Insolvency followed months of financial pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n Fibre Excellence filed for insolvency with the Toulouse Commercial Court in April, stating that worsening liquidity left it with no legal alternative despite ongoing discussions with the French government.<\/p>\n The company reported a loss of around \u20ac30 million in 2025, while a \u20ac150 million government support package designed to improve the group's competitiveness was introduced only shortly before the filing.<\/p>\n A central element of the plan was a proposed increase in the purchase price for electricity generated at the company's mills. Fibre Excellence produces electricity from wood residues alongside market pulp, making energy sales an important source of revenue. Management argued that higher electricity remuneration, improved access to public timber supplies and adjustments to the European CO\u2082 quota system were essential to restoring profitability, but the measures came too late to resolve the group's immediate cash flow problems.<\/p>\n Despite entering court-supervised proceedings, operations continued at both pulp mills, with the company maintaining deliveries to customers and purchasing raw materials, including wood.<\/p>\n Management takeover plan abandoned<\/strong><\/p>\n With no industrial buyer emerging during the initial stages of the restructuring, Fibre Excellence's management submitted a takeover proposal to the Toulouse Commercial Court on 1 June.<\/p>\n The offer covered all of the group's industrial and forestry assets, including the pulp mills at Saint-Gaudens and Tarascon, the Chapelle Darblay paper mill site acquired from UPM, and its forestry subsidiaries. The proposal also sought to preserve the group's workforce of nearly 700 employees.<\/p>\n Management planned to establish a new holding company supported by private investors together with regional public authorities. However, the proposal received a cautious response from the French government, with Industry Minister S\u00e9bastien Martin arguing that it lacked the backing of a genuine industrial investor.<\/p>\n New investor changes the process<\/strong><\/p>\n The restructuring process changed after the emergence of French investor Matthieu Pigasse, whose interest prompted the Toulouse Commercial Court to postpone its decision on the company's future until 6 July.<\/p>\n Guillot subsequently withdrew the management-led offer, saying the new investor should be given the opportunity to develop a stronger industrial and financial proposal.<\/p>\n The additional time allows the prospective investor to present a more comprehensive restructuring plan before the court decides whether the company can continue under new ownership.<\/p>\n Strategic role in France's pulp industry<\/strong><\/p>\n Fibre Excellence operates two of France's largest market pulp mills.<\/p>\n The Saint-Gaudens mill has annual production capacity of approximately 280,000 tonnes, while the Tarascon facility can produce around 250,000 tonnes. Together, the mills manufacture bleached hardwood kraft pulp, bleached softwood kraft pulp and unbleached softwood kraft pulp supplied to producers of printing papers, tissue, hygiene products and packaging grades.<\/p>\n Beyond its direct workforce, the company estimates that its operations support around 10,000 indirect jobs across France's forestry, logging, transport, wood processing and paper industries.<\/p>\n The Toulouse Commercial Court is expected to review the new proposal on 6 July, when the future ownership of one of France's largest pulp producers should become clearer.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n