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The Montpellier appeal court in France on Wednesday (19th July) overturned the local commercial court’s decision last month for the Lille-based Furet du Nord chain of bookshops to acquire Sauramps, a group of five outlets in the Montpellier region in the south of France.
Instead, the group goes to Amétis, a property developer owned by architect François Fontès and his partner Bertrand Barascud. This was the preferred choice of many of the staff as it involves maintaining all five stores and 94 instead of 57 of the 119 employees.
Le Furet du Nord would have closed the Odyssée store, whose high rent in the Odysseum shopping centre in Montpellier is understood to have seriously dented the group’s finances for years. The chain said on its official Facebook page that its plan for Sauramps was to “develop a local cultural retail operation, far from the cold methods of the internet giants”.
Pierre Coursières, chairman and c.e.o., told the online publication ActuaLitté that he would not take the case to the supreme court. The latest ruling “is disappointing”, he said. “We could have created an excellent synergy (but) it is important for the Sauramps team and ours for the case to be closed”.
The staff is greatly relieved, both that Amétis is taking over and that the saga is over after months of upheaval, according to Julien Domergue, representative of the SUD trade union. In particular, the staff welcomes the fact that Sauramps outgoing chairman and c.e.o., Jean-Marie Sauramps, will be replaced. “We will now be able to start working normally again, which hasn’t been the case since last March, Domergue said.
Last month, staff at the French mini-chain Sauramps went on strike in protest at the court's decision to accept the original acquisition bid by Furet du Nord.