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The French Booksellers Association (Syndicat de la Librairie Française, SLF) has expressed its "full support (for) and confidence" in president Matthieu de Montchalin, who has come under fire over his bid to buy the Sauramps mini-chain of bookshops.
Sauramps, made up of five bookshops in the Montpellier are of the south of France, is to file for receivership after de Montchalin's bid "did not provide the necessary elements to realise (the) project", according to Sauramps chairman and c.e.o. Jean-Marie Sevestre.
Christian Thorel, owner of Ombres Blanches in Toulouse, yesterday accused de Montchalin of "a really inconsequential (attitude)" in his approach to the bid, and claimed he used his position as SLF president to push his bid through.
But the SLF has rejected the allegations. In a statement issued today (Friday 10th February), it said the "violent" attacks were "unfounded", and the claim that de Montchalin used the SLF to bolster his bid "are as false as they are malicious".
An association presidency has "never prevented a company boss from developing their own projects in a totally independent way", the statement said, adding that the attacks on de Montchalin are "indirectly aimed at the representation of independent booksellers and their collective action".