One more month for Orpea. Opened on October 25 by the president of the Nanterre Specialized Commercial Court, under the aegis of Me Hélène Bourbouloux, the amicable conciliation procedure for the private nursing home group was to end on February 25. It will finally be extended until March 25. But “no further extension can take place” after that date, said the group in financial difficulty.
This procedure had been opened because Orpea found itself overwhelmed by its debt.
“The company is too indebted due to the international and real estate development carried out at a frantic pace, at the initiative of the former general management”, explained in October to AFP its new director general, Laurent Guillot.
who adds:
“This amicable conciliation procedure allows us to renegotiate with the financial players the situation of our debt and, at the same time, to protect our employees and residents. »
Its gross financial debt is estimated at 9.7 billion euros at the end of December 2022.
Orpea had already carried out an amicable conciliation procedure last year which had enabled it to reach an agreement with its banks to ensure its financing. But the group might no longer be able to comply due to various factors, such as inflation.
The cancellation of some 40% of the debts (3.8 billion euros)…
The extension of the conciliation procedure should in particular allow the group “to continue to expand support for unsecured financial creditors who have not yet been able to adhere to the “lock-up” agreement signed on February 14″, said Orpea.
The group concluded an agreement that day with, on the one hand, a group of French investors led by the Caisse des dépôts (CDC) and also including the insurers CNP Assurances and MAIF and, on the other hand, “five institutions holding unsecured debt of Orpea (the “SteerCo)*”.
This agreement provides for the cancellation of 3.8 billion euros in Orpea’s debt, or nearly 40% of the total.
It also provides for investors to bring 1.55 billion euros of fresh money to the group, present in 22 countries and which manages some 350 establishments in France (Ehpad, clinics, etc.).
… will lead to a new distribution of capital guaranteed by a lock-up
At the end of the process, the group led by the CDC will hold 50.2% of the capital of Orpea, the creditors 49.4%, and the current shareholders, if they decide not to participate in the capital increases which will be open, 0.4%.
This procedure will take place at the Commercial Court of Nanterre. Changes in shareholding will also result in changes to the group’s board of directors. It will be made up of seven members appointed by the CDC, the CEO of Orpea, two employee representatives and three independent directors.
Given the extension of the conciliation procedure, the deadline for joining this settlement agreement “lock-up” is now set for March 10, says Orpea.
New fall on the stock market, the loss reaches -97% since January
The Orpea share lost 3.68% on Thursday morning, to 2.64 euros, in a market that was however up slightly.
It has lost 97% of its value in total since January 2022, when the investigation book was published. “The Gravediggers” by Vincent Castanet, who revealed mistreatment of residents and financial irregularities at Orpea. The action of the group was displayed around 90 euros before the publication of this work.
“System” of institutionalized ill-treatment: complaint also in Austria
In this book, the journalist accuses the Ehpad group, which manages more than 350 establishments for dependent elderly people in France, of having set up a ” system “ to maximize its profits at the expense of the well-being of residents and employees.
Following a report by the government, Orpea was targeted from April by a judicial inquiry, opened in Nanterre, on suspicion of institutional mistreatment or financial offences.
More recently, it was the Austrian Defender of Rights who denounced in a report the ill-treatment suffered by residents of an Ehpad Orpea in Austria.
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NOTE
« SteerCo »
for “steering committee” or, in French, “comité de pilotage”.
(with AFP)