De Pardieu Brocas Maffei has advised Coopérateurs de Normandie Picardie Coop group on the approval by the Commercial Court of Rouen of the conciliation agreement entered into by and between Groupe COOP, Groupe Leader Price and Groupement U
Groupe COOP submitted the conciliation protocol entered into with its main partners, Groupe Leader Price and Groupement U, to the Rouen Commercial Court on 15 April 2020, which approved it in upon a judgment dated 17 April 2020.
Groupe COOP, a hundred-year-old French consumers cooperative which, as of 31 December 2019, was running a total of 81 retail stores, including 70 stores under the brand name “LEADER PRICE”, and 11 stores, under the brand name “U”, in the Normandy and Haut de France regions, will carry out the following transactions:
- settlement of its debt to Groupe CASINO, by transferring 61 retail stores operated under the “LEADER PRICE” brand name to Groupe Leader Price, resulting in the payment to the benefit of Groupe COOP of a remaining balance resulting from a set-off mechanism, payable by Groupe Leader Price at the end of the time period for creditors to oppose the sale of the transferred stores, including in particular the value of the inventories purchased by Groupe Leader Price ;
- repayment of its debt to Groupement U, following closing of the sale transactions with Groupe Leader Price, in view of continuing its partnership with Groupement U as a U partner.
These restructuring operations will enable Groupe COOP, which had a work force of 1,664 employees as of 31 December 2019, among its stores and at the head office, to fully pay off its debt and dispose of the funds necessary to expand its activity within Groupement U on a sustainable basis.
As a result of such restructuring operations, Groupe COOP will also be in a position to secure the financial status of all its creditors and co-contractors, ensuring the continuation of its business and employment.
