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Distribution: Presstalis half liquidated, 500 employees in the hot seat

2020-05-15T15:08:02.347Z


Burdened with debts, Presstalis, the main press distributor in France, avoids closure but sees its subsidiaries in liquidated regions, with more than 500 employees in the hot seat. Long negotiations between daily newspapers and magazines, shareholders of Presstalis, had failed Monday. A single offer had been submitted by the daily newspapers to take over the Paris headquarters of Presstalis and it...


Burdened with debts, Presstalis, the main press distributor in France, avoids closure but sees its subsidiaries in liquidated regions, with more than 500 employees in the hot seat. Long negotiations between daily newspapers and magazines, shareholders of Presstalis, had failed Monday. A single offer had been submitted by the daily newspapers to take over the Paris headquarters of Presstalis and its distribution and grouping activities from Bobigny, in Seine-Saint-Denis. But not its regional depots, which serve nearly 10,000 points of sale in France.

Read also: Liquidation of Presstalis: the CGT requests a delay from the court

The Paris Commercial Court followed this plan supported by Presstalis management by placing the company in receivership, with an observation period of two months. " He also pronounced the liquidation without continuation of activity of the companies SAD and Soprocom ", its local subsidiaries, said the management of Presstalis in a press release.

The commercial court did not accept the request for postponement filed in extremis, Thursday evening, by the Syndicat du livre-CGT (SGLCE). The CGT had mobilized since Monday against this partial liquidation by blocking the distribution of national newspapers and certain magazines in several regions, from Marseille to Nancy via Lyon. She was counting on a new supply of magazines to save regional deposits. Outside the social movement, there should not be any “ long interruption ” in the distribution of newspapers, according to the group's management.

In this already struggling sector, the coming weeks should be hectic. The dailies' proposal " still needs to be discussed in the coming days in order to be completed, " says Presstalis. It could be " improved by the participation of certain magazine publishers ". The flow of magazines would indeed be essential to the viability of a new structure, at a time when they distribute fewer and fewer daily newspapers.

Read also: Presstalis, years of crisis in press distribution

" The objective is to build a messaging system capable of meeting the challenges of the sector over the next few years and prepare a complete overhaul of the system, " continues Presstalis.

Presstalis' subsidiaries should therefore be divested, with the risk of numerous layoffs. The idea would be to continue to decrease the number of depots in the territory: they were less than 700 in 1995, 61 in early 2019. And to pay these distribution zones " to independent depositaries or new entrants ", who would favor recovery former employees, said Tuesday Cédric Dugardin, president of Presstalis.

The State oversees the discussions and carries at arm's length the press distributor, which is going through its third major crisis in ten years. A decree formalized on Wednesday a loan of an additional 35 million euros, under the program of the Economic and Social Development Fund (FDES). On the side of newsagents, this crisis is added to the consequences of the movement of " yellow vests " and a long confinement due to coronavirus.

Read also: Presstalis: 3rd day of partial blocking for national newspapers

" We need a quick and pragmatic solution, which allows a normal recovery of distribution, " said Thursday Daniel Panetto, one of their representatives, in a letter to his colleagues. He also appealed " to the public authorities to benefit from strong support because the 22,000 merchants are again threatened and pushed into a precarious situation ".

Will casual readers find their way to kiosks? Publishers, whose finances are already shattered by containment, may also miss the money owed to them by Presstalis for sales in recent weeks. Several appealed to the solidarity of their readers and exceptionally disseminated their publications on the internet.

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2020-05-15

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