Three GFG-owned sites in France file for court protection

GFG Resources

20/04/2021 20:27

PARIS, April 20 (Reuters) - The Alvance Aluminium branch of
British businessman Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance on Tuesday
asked a French court to place three of its sites under
administration, a spokesman said.
    The hearing followed Alvance Aluminium's decision last week
to file for voluntary administration for the factories in
central France - Alvance Aluminium Wheels, Alvance Aluminium
Poitou and Alvance Foundry Poitou.
    "All three businesses have faced structural changes in their
markets which have been compounded by COVID-19 and a reduction
in working capital support available from GFG Alliance following
the collapse of Greensill Capital," an Alvance spokesman said.
    The collapse of supply chain finance firm Greensill, a major
creditor of GFG, has forced the group to seek new funding.
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    Greensill was a major source of funding for Gupta as he
bought up struggling metals manufacturing facilities in recent
years, including several French sites.
    The commercial court in Paris that heard Alvance's request
was due to issue a decision on Friday detailing the duration of
an administration period, Gery Begeault, a CGT union
representative at Alvance Aluminium Poitou, said.
    Alvance also owns an aluminium smelter in Dunkirk that is
Europe's largest primary aluminium production site.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2LR2XT
    
    

 (Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Pratima Desai; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)
 ((gus.trompiz@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 52 18; Reuters
Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))