The long-running saga over the future of insolvent French parcels firm Sernam came to an end onthe appropriate date of Friday 13th April with the official decision that Geodis will take over the
bulk of the business.The French commercial court at Nanterre, on the outskirts of Paris, formally accepted the€750,000 joint offer from Geodis (€500,000) and its minority holding BMV (€250,000).
Under the offer, a total of 831 of Sernam’s remaining 1,441 employees will be taken on by Geodisas of 7 May. Geodis Calberson will take over Sernam’s customer base but it is unclear how many ofSernam’s 52 depots will be retained by the SNCF subsidiary.
The Sernam brand and its commercial alliances will disappear. One consequence is that Eurodis,the European alliance led by Austrian Post-owned trans-o-flex, is left without a partner inFrance.
French transport minister Thierry Mariani welcomed the court’s decision which would “save morenearly 900 jobs” and said a solution now had to be found for the remaining staff.
According to French newspaper La Tribune, the former owner, Butler Capital Partners, willcontribute €2 million to a social plan for the 610 Sernam workers who will not be taken on byGeodis.
Geodis confirmed its offer for Sernam after the European Commission decided that any investor inSernam would not have to repay €642 million in state aid dating from the mid-2000s due to a lack of“economic continuity” between the company before and after the planned sale.
Sernam, with revenues of €298 million in 2011, has been heavily loss-making for years and wasdeclared insolvent at the start of this year.
