A veritable institution of tutoring, the Cours Legendre was playing its survival in court this month, after being placed in receivership in November.
After several buyers had applied to take over the company founded in 1957, the Paris Commercial Court finally accepted the offer presented by two tech entrepreneurs, Naël Hamameh and Jean de La Porte, a- we learned this Friday.
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“
We are super enthusiastic about the idea of writing a new page for the Cours Legendre
, reacts Jean de La Porte to Le
Figaro
.
It's a pretty incredible brand, because everyone around us knows it.
We say to ourselves that it has a lot of potential, that there are things to find and new services to develop.
“If the Cours Legendre tops the 2023 list of
Figaro
companies specializing in tutoring, the company has been put in difficulty by the Covid crisis and the confinements.
Events that caused the cancellation of home lessons and depopulated support courses.
"
We are in a project of growth and revival of turnover, so that the Cours Legendre regains its historical place of reference for tutoring
”, says Jean de La Porte.
Co-founders of a hairdressing booking platform
For this new stage in the history of the institution, Naël Hamameh and Jean de La Porte indicate that they particularly want to invest in digital technology.
“
On digital, in the way of working and communicating, we said to ourselves that there was real room for improvement, that the brand could do much better while keeping its know-how
”, relates Naël Hamameh.
One of the major projects of the two buyers will be, in the publishing branch of extracurricular textbooks and Cours Legendre holiday books, the creation of a website and a mobile app.
Read alsoSchool support: our 2023 list of the best private lessons
On digital, it must be said that Naël and Jean know a lot about it.
After their meeting in 2014 at the time of the sale of the first company set up by Naël Hamameh - Jean de La Porte was the representative of the majority shareholder of the buyer -, the two quadras founded together the start-up LeCiseau in 2016 The principle of this platform is to book hairdresser appointments online during empty slots or at the last minute, with 50% discounts in exchange.
After two fundraisers, a merger with another French company, FlexyBeauty, resulting in a renaming in Kiute, the start-up was finally sold in 2021 to its American competitor, Boosky, which presents itself as "
the world leader in online beauty booking
”.
If the two men were seduced by the potential of Cours Legendre, they also explain that they were attracted by its sector of activity: education and training.
"
It's a great mission to help students succeed in their education
," emphasizes Jean de La Porte.
"
It's worth it
," he concludes with a smile.