Grimaud goes into liquidation

Grimaud, the French logistics subsidiary of Belgian company Ziegler, one of Europe’s largest freight operators, has finally gone into liquidation, resulting in the loss of 1,184 jobs. A plan had been announced in January which, had it gone ahead, would have saved part of the company, although this too would have caused major job losses. However the local works committee, which was required to have an input into the plan, refused to co-operate, and the receiver had no option but to shut down the entire company.

Grimaud had a turnover of about €90m in 2002 and the Ziegler group as a whole reported sales of €1.8bn in 2001. Ziegler had originally bought Grimaud out of administration in 2001 but was unable to turn the company around and stated that the finances were weaker than it originally believed. In particular the company blamed a collapse in its core groupage operations: sales in December dropped by 40%.

The episode has resulted in accusations of misconduct on all sides. The management of the company accused the staff representatives of obstructing the restructuring process whilst the largest union claimed that it had been Ziegler’s intention all along to strip the company of its assets and then break it up. A French public prosecutor has been appointed to investigate Ziegler’s role in the collapse of the company.