2023-04-29 13:49:57
Will there soon be a French toy behemoth? The JouéClub cooperative has announced that it is a “candidate” for the takeover of Grande Récré, a large toy brand belonging to businessman Michel Ohayon in the midst of turmoil and whose parent company is in the process of compulsory liquidation. La Grande Récré, which currently has 140 stores and just over 1,000 employees including franchisees, announced in March that it was looking for new investors, who might present “offers” before April 14.
On Thursday, the Paris Commercial Court pronounced “the opening of judicial liquidation proceedings” once morest Ludendo Entreprises, parent company of La Grande Récré, which is its main brand. After having “studied the file”, JouéClub, which defines itself as “the largest French network of independent toy professionals” and which relies on 290 stores, indicated on Friday that it had “filed a global takeover offer including the employees of the head office and guaranteeing the continuity of operation of the La Grande Récré brand”.
No disappearance of the brand
JouéClub specifies that it proposes to “take over nearly 90% of the integrated network of La Grande Récré and the 50 franchise contracts in France and abroad”, an offer which “preserves more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs” affirms- he. “The offer also makes it possible to continue the contracts with Casino (“corners” in store) and Total (“corners” in motorway service station)”, continues the press release.
If it materializes, this offer would make it possible to form one of the leaders of the French toy market. For JouéClub, the takeover offer he submitted “is part of a history common to the two groups, La Grande Récré being a former member of the JouéClub cooperative. The two brands share a common DNA”.
“The objective of JouéClub, within the framework of this offer, is to keep the La Grande Récré network while integrating this sign into our group”, declared Jacques Baudoz, president of JouéClub, quoted in the press release. According to him, the La Grande Récré and JouéClub brands “appear perfectly complementary, the first benefiting from a more urban and premium positioning, while the second is more established in the urban outskirts”.
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