2023-05-04 07:20:44
André Houet does not definitively close the door to a takeover: “It’s a possibility provided that the price is very very very very reasonable, I would almost say the price of the land. If the amounts requested are significant, and you have to add major works to them, it will not be economically reasonable “.
Other crystal factories have relocated
Moving production elsewhere has been considered in the past. “Other crystal factories have done it. It’s something that would not please the municipal authorities at all. The Cristallerie, Val Saint-Lambert, is the baby of Seraing. It’s possible, it has been considered, it still is. We don’t have to stay in the environment”. Pierre Chevalier goes one better : “We own the Val Saint-Lambert brand. So we can transfer the activity wherever we want, andn Walloon Brabant, in Hainaut or even in Flanders”.
This is all a consequence of the Cristal Park crash. The bankruptcy of the owner of its walls and the prospect of a sale of the buildings put the Cristallerie in difficulty. She rented the premises free of charge, explains André Houet. This was provided for in the company’s takeover agreement. The owner of the walls, Immoval, now bankrupt, was to build a new factory for the Cristallerie. The showroom was to be set up in the castle, which was much more prestigious. “The promise was not kept. It was postponed from date to date”. The free rental was, however, part of the business plan of the crystal factory. This is one of the elements that should allow it to be profitable, which it is not.
Can the Cristallerie continue?
“This whole structure has held together since the takeover solely thanks to systematic contributions of funds from the main shareholder, Mr. Forrest. And sometimes twice a year. A company that only survives, year following year, by contributions from the shareholder , economically speaking, this is nonsense”. The prospect of having to invest in order to buy buildings that are almost in ruins does not make the shareholder smile, nor the director who today is “in full reflection on a continuity or not”but specifies to collaborate “with the City, which does not want to see the crystal factory disappear, to see what solutions we might consider together”.
Finding other buyers for the buildings than the crystal factory that occupies them may not be easy. And it is doubtful that the sale will bring enough to reimburse all the creditors of the bankrupt Cristal Park.. All receivables exceed 28 million (total for Valinvest and Immoval). In the application for authorization to put up for sale that the conservatorship sent to the company court, a document that RTBF and Le Vif were able to obtain, next to the showroom and the so-called “crystal factory” building, there are also several small pieces of pasture and paths near Villencourt, plus a water catchment located in the town of Flémalle, between the railway line and the chaussée d’Ivoz.
Everything will be for sale, the City interested
The curatorship will not be limited to these lots. All Immoval and Valinvest properties must be sold. In addition to the showroom and the factory, there will be the Deprez house, the abbey and the foreigners’ house. The City of Seraing is officially interested. She says she is sensitive to the heritage aspect. The Deprez house might be used as a public building. There has long been talk of putting the wedding hall and the municipal council there. A sign on the site announces it, moreover, but this Deprez house has been left fallow for many years.
If the City buys this house, plus the abbey and the foreigners’ house, that means that at the end of the Cristal Park fiasco, it will spend money to recover the property of bankrupt companies… of which it was. – even the shareholder, therefore property that already belonged to him indirectly. It’s a bit like the snake biting its tail, but the alderwoman Crapanzano kicks in touch: “It means that the City continues to take its responsibilities”.
What regarding building land?
There remains the thorny issue of woods and building land around the old factory. They are the most valuable. They are not currently on sale. The question for now is: “who do they belong to?” To the City of Seraing and the Maison sérésienne who are the initial owners? Agreements to sell were signed with Immoval, then transferred to subsidiary companies (“SPV”) of Cristal Park, but never paid by anyone. The City and the Seresian house believe that these lands still belong to them. The question remains open. The college of trustees has yet to determine its position on the ownership of this land.
The bankrupt Immoval and Valinvest companies together owe more than 28 million euros to their creditors. Half of which primarily to Ogeo Fund, the public pension fund of the Liège intermunicipal companies Enodia, Cile, AIDE, IILE, etc. Ogeo Fund will therefore grab all of the sales that will be made in the coming months by the curatorship. The other creditors, including the architect Christian Sauvage, are likely to remain on the floor. Because it is the value of the Crystal Park built which was to allow them to be reimbursed. And since no new building has come out of the ground in twenty years of promises, there will ultimately be very little money to recover. And the fruit of all these sales should not make it possible to reach the 14 million euros due to Ogeo Fund.
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