Go Sport: The future buyer will be revealed on April 28
While Go Sport
In the midst of financial turmoil, Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon delegated on Tuesday a manager from Financière Immobilière Bordelaise (FIB), the holding company at the head of his empire, to officially inform the court of the withdrawal announced by HPB in a press release on Monday evening. This defection and the absence of an appeal will allow the takeover offers to be examined “with more serenity” this afternoon, stressed Me Bledniak, the employees’ lawyer.
Géraldine Rey, an employee at a Go Sport store in Grenoble and a CGT representative, said she was “relieved” that HPB had withdrawn but “saddened” by the idea that “the Go Sport brand might disappear.”
Two of the candidates for the takeover stand out from the twenty or so offers: the British company Frasers and Intersport
In its final offer, Frasers’ subsidiary, Sports Direct
The British group says that it wants to put Go Sport stores under the Sports Direct umbrella “in a reasoned and gradual manner over the next three or four years.” On the downside, its reputation has often been overshadowed by its social practices, which have been the subject of strong criticism in the past, particularly regarding the working conditions of its employees.
For its part, Intersport France has made a takeover proposal in a joint venture with Qatari company, Al-Mana, and is offering to take over 72 shops, 1,446 of the store employees, and 185 of the Go Sport Group head office employees, according to the file consulted by AFP.
Other buyers have also applied, local companies, some of which are franchised under the Sport 2000
The parent company Go Sport Group brings together the activities of the retailer’s headquarters in Sassenage near Grenoble and 46 master franchise shops internationally. Its subsidiary Go Sport France has 82 integrated shops, 87 franchised shops (Go Sport and Endurance Shop) and online stores.
Another of the group’s assets, Wilsam, which operates Gap
With AFP
