It was almost unexpected. After the failure of several local takeover projects, for lack of investors, the Arjowiggins factory in Bessé-sur-Braye, in Sarthe, in compulsory liquidation since March 2019, found a buyer. The announcement fell last Friday. The Commercial Court of Nanterre authorized the company Paper Mills Industries (PMI), a subsidiary of the Canadian group Dottori, specialized in the field of forest products and paper, to take over this industrial papermaking site, which had ceased all activity.
Subsidiary of the Sequana papermaking group, the Bessé-sur-Braye factory produced writing and printing papers, labels and packaging, transfer papers and laminated papers. 566 employees worked on the Bessé-sur-Braye site and all were dismissed for economic reasons.
Circular economy
Paper Mills Industries plans to " hire 240 people by 2025 and is committed to offering these jobs as a priority to former employees of the company Arjowiggins Papiers Couchés, " according to a statement from the agents. According to Pierre Petit, president of PMI, the group intends to invest 25 million euros locally in new niche productions.
In concrete terms, PMI plans to manufacture, in particular, special paper to make passports, or change. He also plans to recycle unsold textiles to make luxury paper, " according to old techniques ," he told Maine Libre.
These productions will be based on the principles of " sustainable development and using existing industrial tools, " said Pierre Petit, quoted in a press release. In this logic of " circular economy ", the president of PMI also says he wants to use " local resources ", rely on " the assets of the territory ", and redistribute " the results on the regional employment pool ". The company also plans to create a business incubator to allow start-ups to develop their projects related to the paper industry.