New episode in the decline of an emblematic French brand: the lingerie brand Maison Lejaby, placed in receivership in January, was taken over by a Franco-Indonesian arrangement but only half of its jobs will be preserved, according to corroborating sources . The Lyon commercial court ruled on May 7 in this case.
He chose the takeover offer submitted by a company made up of the Indonesian Mirae group and the French company GC Consult, said Olivier David, secretary of the CSE (social and economic committee) and CFDT representative of Maison Lejaby.
Faced with other candidates, this buyer “was the best bidder in relation to the sustainability of the company and the recovery of the workforce”, he indicated, specifying that 24 employees would be taken over out of 49.
Reorganization and takeover of the premises by the new owners
The amount of the sale is 453,000 euros. The reorganization will concern all sectors of activity at the headquarters in Rillieux-la-Pape (Rhône), in stores in Paris and Lyon, and in the corners of department stores, according to Mr. David.
Since May 8, the new buyers have been at headquarters to take possession of the premises. They “want to work “on contract” as we did before. For the moment, they do not want to change the place of production which was at Isatex, a Tunisian group, said Mr. David.
Maison Lejaby, which launched its first bras in 1930 and rose to second place in French lingerie at the end of the 1960s, was placed in liquidation in 2011.
Continuing difficulties and a change of ownership
Having become a symbol of “made in France” in danger, during the 2012 presidential campaign, the brand was then taken over by Alain Prost, ex-CEO of the Italian “La Perla” and former general manager of Chantelle, who had retained 195 employees out of the 450 that the company had.
Around three years later, the company, affected by the crisis in Russia and Ukraine which then represented 30% of its turnover (28 million euros), had to cut 30% of its workforce.
The entrepreneur-investor Thierry Le Guénic then acquired the brand in 2019. Maison Lejaby is not the only company bought by Thierry Le Guénic to have suffered a disastrous fate.
It also took over in 2020, Habitat, placed in compulsory liquidation on December 28, 2023, and the clothing brand Burton of London, placed in compulsory liquidation in February.
