Is the financial bomb Greensill Capital about to explode in France?
The bankruptcy Monday of the British company, specialist in a form of factoring, weakens the world empire of 35,000 employees of one of its main clients: the GFG Alliance group of the Anglo-Indian billionaire Sanjeev Gupta.
Liberty Steel, which brings together GFG's steel activities, took over the Ascoval steelworks in France at the end of 2020, in Saint-Saulve in the north, and the Hayange rail plant in Moselle.
Sanjeev Gupta is also the owner in France of the Aluminum Dunkerque foundry and several foundries in Poitou.
Read also: Threat of cascading insolvencies after Greensill's bankruptcy
According to documents unveiled at the bar of the English court on Monday, GFG, which "is
currently going through financial difficulties
", estimated in early February that without the working capital provided by Greensill, it could in turn become insolvent.
Faced with the concerns of the unions, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire assured Tuesday on France 2 that the State would protect employees in the event of the bankruptcy of French industrial sites.
If Bercy considers this scenario unlikely, the ministry remains on guard, believing that it is too early to measure the extent of the consequences of the fall of Greensill.
According to our information, a shadow on the table has already been identified: a loan guaranteed by the State to the tune of 50 million euros that Greensill was to provide to Ascoval and Hayange, through its German banking subsidiary.
An extraordinary CSE on the subject should be held next week in Hayange.
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SEE ALSO - Bankruptcy of Greensill:" The State will protect the employees ", assures Bruno Le Maire
