French minister in bid to reassure potential Sernam buyers

French transport minister Thierry Mariani is to travel to Brussels in the next few days in the hopes of reassuring potential buyers for the troubled express and parcel delivery firm Sernam. The company that separated from the state railway company SNCF in 2005 called in the receivers last month, after suffering financial troubles related to the economic downturn and the end of a long-distance rail transport partnership with SNCF.

A bidding process is currently open until next week for a new owner to come forward and buy the company, and hopes had been that Sernam could return to SNCF ownership via its logistics subsidiary Geodis.

However, a major stumbling block has been the potential fine a new owner of Sernam could face from Europe if it is told by the European Union to hand back around a decade of State Aid doled out by the French government when it was part of SNCF.

Yesterday the French government confirmed that Geodis has decided not to put in a bid for Sernam “given the risks involved in the judicial system”.

In a statement, the French ministry of transport said yesterday that to reassure other buyers about the risks, its minister (pictured above right) would head to Brussels to find out what competition authorities might be planning for the Sernam state aid case.

The ministry said: “Fully intending to ensure the success of the group’s recovery, Theirry Mariani, minister of transport, will visit Brussels in the next few days to reassure all potential buyers on the exact nature of the legal risks in the resumption of Sernam.”

Sernam

With a network of 52 branches and 600 tractor-trailer units, Sernam has been making annual losses of around EUR 15m-20m in recent years, on a turnover of around EUR 300m.

The firm has been 52% owned by investment fund Butler Capital Partners since 2006, but the company decided last November it wanted to pull out of Sernam having failed to acquire another struggling delivery firm, Mory.

It has been reported in the French media in recent days that Geodis had been considering a recovery plan that would have seen 1,000 of Sernam’s 1,600 jobs saved.

Other potential buyers are said to include The Caravelle Group, the company that succeeded in acquiring Mory last year.

Sernam president Philippe Chevalier said this week that there had been “contradictory” stories in the press, which “must be viewed with caution at this stage”. He said several possible buyers had expressed interest in the company, but pointed out that the bidding process remains open until February 27.

“No candidate has any interest in revealing details of its recovery plans too soon,” he pointed out.”

Meanwhile, Chevalier said since his company obtained a court order to allow it to pay subcontractors despite its insolvency proceedings, it has received continued commitments from most, with a “very few exceptions”, to allow services to continue as normal.

• Geodis has agreed with warehouse company Prologis, Inc., to expand its hub facility in the Lisse area of Evry, just south of Paris. The facility is set to be extended by as much as 30,000 square metres to a total of 100,000 square metres, with the project expected to be completed in 2013.