The companies Alsatis, Circet, Kyntus, Newscope, Solutions 30 and Foliateam presented to the Lyon commercial court offers to take over the sale plan, partial and total, of Scopelec and its indirect subsidiary Setelen, a source close to the case indicated on Friday, November 4. Orange's subcontractor for fiber optic networks, Scopelec, had recently been placed in receivership (Satellifacts, September 28). The court will deliver its decision at a hearing on Thursday, December 8.
France's leading cooperative group with 3,600 employees and 475 million euros in turnover in 2021, Scopelec is playing for its survival since Orange's announcement of the loss of most of this market in November 2021, which provided 40% of its turnover.
According to Mr. Ralph Blindauer, lawyer for the economic and social committee (CSE) of Setelen, the first subsidiary of Scopelec, only two global offers can interest the CSE. "Circet's offer (€100,000) is solid financially but that of Newscope (€2) is better from a social point of view," since it promises to save more jobs, i.e. around 250 out of almost 500 employees against 175 on the Circet side, he explains. "Employees must be convinced to take shares in the Scop since part of the financing is based on this and they were somewhat chilled by the Scop experience at Scopelec", he added. Employees hold 74.8% of the capital and the decision-making power.