In front of the Brandt factory in Vendôme, France, December 11, 2025. JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP
The French industrial sector has just suffered another shock. The fate of the country's last manufacturer of large home appliances, which had been owned by Algerian conglomerate Cevital since 2014, of its flagship brands Brandt, Vedette, Sauter and De Dietrich, and of nearly 750 employees had been hanging in the balance of a decision by a commercial court. Since Brandt was placed in receivership on October 1, the prospect of a final shutdown and liquidation had been feared.
The court ultimately decided on Thursday, December 11, to order the judicial liquidation of the company, announced François Bonneau, president of the Centre-Val de Loire region, sharing the news with AFP agency. "It is terrible news, a shock and a very hard blow to French industry," he said. The French Economy and Finance Ministry also expressed "deep sadness" after the liquidation of a "French jewel."
The judges did not select the only proposal that offered hope for the appliance company's employees. The bids included a proposal from employees to create a workers' cooperative project, known as a SCOP, to save 295 jobs across the two production sites at Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle near Orléans and Vendôme to the west, which together employ 443 people. It was also the only bid that would have saved both factories of the company, whose headquarters are in Rueil-Malmaison, west of Paris. The group also runs an after-sales service center in Val-d'Oise, in the Paris region.
