Overview
- The Nanterre economic court issued the liquidation ruling on 11 December after the company entered court protection in early October.
- About 700 positions across French sites will be eliminated, with wages no longer guaranteed after 15 December.
- The only takeover proposal, a worker cooperative backed by Revive, aimed to retain roughly 300–370 jobs and keep the Orléans and Vendôme factories running.
- Public backing neared €20 million, including €5 million from the state, but judges required binding commitments from private lenders that did not materialize.
- The shutdown ends French manufacturing for appliances sold under Brandt, De Dietrich, Sauter and Vedette in a market weakened by the housing downturn.