Florange law:save jobs.We support you at every step.
Closing a site commits the group to its employees, the works council, the authorities and the local community. Strataure runs the buyer search with the rigour of a sale: 150 to 300 industrial buyers approached, a transparent and documented process, through to the authorities' decision.
- buyers approached per site
- 150 to 300
- of jobs kept at the Poulain plant in Blois
- 100%
- alongside HR directors of large groups
- Since 2019
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With Adrien Aouate, founder · confidential, no commitment
A site closure involves the group, its people and the local community. We support you at every step.
“How do we involve the works council in the search?”
The law gives the works council (CSE) a real role: it is informed of every offer, can take part in the search, make proposals and appoint an expert. At every meeting we share a clear status: companies contacted, replies, visits, offers. We can present it with you and answer questions from employee representatives and their expert.
“What must we provide to the authorities?”
Before validating or approving the job protection plan (PSE), the labour authority (DREETS) checks that the buyer search was carried out as the law requires. We build the file as we go: site presentation document, buyers contacted, offers received, reasoned replies, final report. The authorities get a complete view of the process.
“How do we involve local officials and the community?”
The mayor is informed of the project, and the prefect informs the officials concerned. Local players often know companies interested in the site: we involve them in the search. Your communications team has precise facts to share.
“How do we keep to the procedure timetable?”
The search runs during the works council consultation, usually two to four months. Every formal offer reaches the council within eight days and receives a reasoned reply before the consultation ends. Targeting is ready as soon as the council is informed, and our deadlines follow yours.
“How do we give the takeover a real chance?”
A takeover, even a partial one, preserves jobs, local activity and the team's know-how. It is a goal shared by the group, the employees and local officials. We present the site as an asset for sale, to industrial buyers able to use its equipment and its people's skills.
Three phases. Aligned with your procedure timetable.
- 1Before the announcement
Prepare in full confidence
We study the site and what a buyer will look at first. With you and your lawyers, we set the scope, the targets and the timetable, then write the site presentation document. When you convene the works council, the search plan is ready: the law requires it to be described in the notice of meeting.
Your role: open up the site's data. Nothing is shared before the works council is informed. - 2During the consultation
Approach 150 to 300 buyers
Industrial companies in the same and adjacent sectors, foreign groups, investment funds, entrepreneurs, local players: we reach their senior executives directly, in France and abroad. Before each works council meeting, you receive a search status ready to present.
Your role: chair the works council meetings, with a precise search status to share. - 3Until the DREETS decision
Assess offers, close the file
We organise site visits, analyse every offer and draft your reasoned replies. The offer you wish to accept is put to the council. Failing that, the closing report sets out the whole search. The authorities receive a complete, dated file.
Your role: decide how to respond to each offer.
Every step is documented and shared with the works council and the authorities.
In a particularly sensitive social context, we entrusted Adrien and Pierre with the sale of the Poulain factory in Blois, with one clear priority: preserving jobs and finding a solid, trustworthy buyer. Mission accomplished with the Andros group, which retained 100% of the positions and launched a new industrial activity on the site!
Anne BecuHR Director, Carambar & Co Group“Strataure proved to be a great partner to Unity Technologies. They fast-tracked buyer interest and expertly managed tense CSE interventions, keeping the Loi Florange process on track throughout. Their constant availability made communication smooth from start to finish.”
Rebecca EmeryHR Director, Unity Technologies“Adrien knows how to find a buyer in socially delicate contexts, where industrial, social and local political stakes are intertwined. A partner I recommend without reservation for this type of sensitive engagement.”
Aymar MontierPartner, ZEMPHI PartnersBy your side, at every step. Until the authorities decide.
Adrien Aouate founded Strataure in 2019, after more than ten years leading acquisitions for Dassault Systèmes and Schneider Electric. He knows what an industrial buyer looks at before taking over a site. In works council meetings, he presents the progress of the search and answers questions from employee representatives and their expert. He works with your lawyers and your communications team, for clear and consistent information at every step.
- Employment lawyers
- Corporate lawyers
- Restructuring specialists
- Valuation experts
- Audit firms
- CSR compliance
Yes, if the company employs at least 1,000 people, or belongs to a group employing at least 1,000: a group whose controlling company is in France, or a Community-scale group (at least 1,000 employees in the EU or the EEA, with at least 150 in each of at least two countries). A 120-person subsidiary can therefore be covered. The project must be to close a site in France, leading to a job protection plan (PSE). Merging several sites outside their employment area, or moving a site outside its own, also counts as a closure when it leads to a PSE.
Before the announcement. The notice to the works council must already describe the actions planned to find a buyer, so the search plan, the targeting and the outline of the presentation document are prepared beforehand, discreetly. If the procedure is already open, we fit the search to the remaining deadlines.
No, it fits within it. The search runs during the works council consultation, which lasts at most two months for fewer than 100 redundancies, three months from 100 to 249 and four months from 250, unless a collective agreement sets different deadlines. Our deadlines follow yours: offers sent to the council within eight days, reasoned replies and closing report before the consultation ends.
The penalty in the original bill was struck down by the Constitutional Council in 2014. The real risk lies elsewhere: the authorities check these obligations before validating or approving the PSE, and their decision can be challenged before the administrative court. An annulment on the merits entitles every dismissed employee who is not reinstated to at least six months' salary, on top of severance pay. Finally, if the reports show that a sale could have avoided or limited redundancies, the prefect can claim back public aid granted to the site in the two years before the works council consultation.
With verifiable facts. During the search, we give your communications team the facts to make public: number of companies approached, sectors and countries covered, visits, offers received. Candidates' names stay confidential. The mayor, who is informed of the project, can also point to local candidates.
No. The law requires you to examine every offer and give a reasoned reply, not to accept it. If you wish to accept an offer, the works council is consulted and you explain your reasons, in particular the buyer's ability to secure the future of the business and its jobs.
The council is informed of every formal takeover offer within eight days of receipt and can give an opinion. It can take part in the search, make proposals and appoint an expert paid by the company. We prepare the information it receives, consider its proposals as carefully as our own leads, and can speak at meetings alongside you.
Industrial companies in the same sector, and in adjacent sectors able to use the site and its skills, foreign groups looking for a foothold in France, investment funds, entrepreneurs and local players. We approach 150 to 300 per site, directly through their senior executives.
Yes, always. Your lawyers run the PSE procedure, we run the buyer search, and your communications team receives the facts to share. Our deliverables follow your timetable: search plan for the works council notice, progress report before each meeting, closing report before the consultation ends.
Let's talk about your site.
In 30 minutes, in full confidence, we review your timetable, your constraints and the likely buyers. You leave with an initial roadmap, whether or not the closure has been announced.
Choose my time slotOr email adrien.aouate@strataure.com