The creditors of Orpea and the Caisse des dépôts (CDC) separated on a statement of failure on the night of Wednesday to Thursday as they try to find a solution on the future of the giant of retirement homes.
The Caisse des dépôts, the financial arm of the State, has proposed to raise its initial offer to provide fresh money to 1.3 billion euros - against 700 million euros at the start -, indicates to AFP an internal CDC source.
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This is 80% of the total sum (1.5 billion euros) that Orpea needs to continue its activity and implement the transformation plan announced in the fall by its new general manager Laurent Guillot.
But discussions on debt restructuring are stumbling over the value at which unsecured debt in the hands of a group of investors will be transformed into capital.
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Among these investors, who hold 1.8 billion euros in debt (out of a total of 9 billion in debt), are managers and hedge funds, including Anchorage, Boussard & Gavaudan, Carmignac and Eiffel.
The Caisse des dépôts and its allies are demanding control of the governance of Orpea, shaken by the publication a year ago of the investigative book
Les Fossoyeurs
, which denounced the abuse of residents and the financial embezzlement of former leaders.
“We want control to ensure that practices change
,” a Caisse des Dépôts source told AFP.
"For us, it's more an ethical question than a financial one"
.
“With partners, mutualists, insurers, we propose to provide 1.265 billion euros, on the basis of a valuation of the company at one billion euros.
This was not accepted by creditors
,” the CDC is told.
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“If the residents are treated better, the charges will increase and the margins will drop, and the company is worth less”
, they say within the public institution.
“There is no agreement today.
Our offer remains on the table
.
According to a source close to the creditors, the conciliator proposed a
"compromise"
, which they accepted and which the Caisse des dépôts refused.
Risk of lack of liquidity
The offer of the Caisse des dépôts
"injures the interests of savers who have already lost a lot
", according to this source.
The holders of Orpea's debt are mostly mutualists, managers of retirement savings and French life insurance,
"ready to support Orpea over the long term"
, according to this source.
"Despite its efforts to reach"
an agreement, Orpea
"notes with regret that the respective expectations of the consortium of investors and the group of unsecured financiers (...) do not allow an agreement to be reached"
and
"these negotiations take consequently end
,” the private group said in a statement released Thursday evening.
Orpea
"will continue discussions with the group of unsecured financiers whose support is necessary to reach an agreement on a restructuring plan"
, namely
"the capitalization of 3.8 billion euros of unsecured debt and an increase of capital of between 1.3 and 1.5 billion euros
", he adds.
The Orpea group, exposed to a risk of lack of liquidity in the first quarter of 2023 and affected by rising food and energy costs, has until mid-February to find a solution within the framework of an amicable conciliation procedure.
On the Paris Bourse, Orpea shares fell more than 7.7% on Thursday to 6.83 euros (against 85 euros before the publication of Les Fossoyeurs), in a market down 1.86%.
