Fibre Excellence submits takeover offer for its two remaining French paper mills

The French pulp‑paper group Fibre Excellence, owner of the country's last two paper mills in Saint‑Gaudens (Haute‑Garonne) and Tarascon (Bouches‑du‑Rhône), filed a rescue takeover proposal with the Toulouse commercial court on Monday. The bid, presented to employees, comes from group president Jean‑François Guillot and his management team and aims to create a new entity that will assume all assets and retain the 670 jobs.

A spokesperson said, “L'objectif est de créer une nouvelle entité qui reprendra l’intégralité des actifs et des salariés.” The offer follows the decision of the Indonesian shareholder to withdraw and is, for now, the sole bid. The court has set 1 June as the deadline for further offers, and the regions of Occitanie and Provence‑Alpes‑Côte d'Azur have voiced their support for the plan.