The Nanterre commercial court accepted La Boucherie’s takeover offer for the Courtepaille catering brand, which has been in great difficulty since the health crisis, but around a thousand out of 2,000 employees will not find a job. In a judgment published on Wednesday and consulted by AFP, the court granted the La Boucherie group the takeover of the Courtepaille brand, in receivership since March, as well as all of the brand’s 77 franchised restaurants. and 10 directly owned restaurants.
Of the 2,039 employees of Courtepaille, the vast majority of whom are employees of the 144 restaurants directly managed by Napaqaro, its owner (itself owned by the TDR fund), more than a thousand will not be taken over at this stage, specified to AFP a source internal to the company. On the other hand, “nearly a thousand jobs” should be preserved thanks to this partial recovery. In detail, 5 of the 87 restaurants taken over will be taken over by an employee and by current franchisees, who will become franchisees of La Boucherie, a spokeswoman for this company told AFP.
“We are delighted to welcome Courtepaille to our family of brands and to work to preserve its identity and heritage while infusing it with a new dynamic,” said Alexandre Baudaire, deputy general manager of La Boucherie, quoted in a press release. of the group. Founded in 1987 by the Baudaire family, the La Boucherie group includes the brands, Restaurant La Boucherie, Poivre Rouge, Bistrot du Boucher, Le Kiosque du Boucher, Mister Döner and Constant, which have a turnover under the brands of 160 million euros. euros. With the takeover of Courtepaille, it will have 253 restaurants and nearly 3,000 employees.
For its part, Napaqaro has made a reclassification offer within its other brand, Buffalo Grill, covering 512 positions, recalled a spokeswoman for the company. Almost three years earlier, in September 2020, the chain of grill restaurants with a somewhat outdated image – rustic decor, wood fire and copper pans… – already in receivership, had been taken over by the British fund ICG by the company Napaqaro, which wanted to invest to modernize its network and renew its concept in order to relaunch attendance.
But this recovery could not be driven: faced with “serious economic and financial difficulties caused by the Covid crisis”, which then “worsened”, explained Napaqaro, Courtepaille was placed in receivership in March 2022.