Sell the Buyer His Own Money

“Arnault sells most of Boussac Saint-Frères' textile activities to the Prouvost group. In return, Boussac receives 27% of the capital of Lainière holding, valued at 300 million. To obscure the matter, Arnault will invest 250 million (21% of the capital) in Vitos Établissements Vitoux (VEV), the holding company that controls Prouvost. This allows him to say: "We are not selling. I am investing 250 million and becoming the second-largest shareholder in what has become one of the largest European textile companies." But it is indeed a disengagement. And these 250 million are, on a larger scale, similar to the money given to the International Cotton Company to buy the factories Boussac wanted to get rid of: in both cases, it is the seller who pays the buyer! It's all a matter of packaging.”

“Bernard Arnault did not wait to become the definitive owner of SFFAW to begin the big cleanup at Boussac. On the very day of his installation as CEO of Compagnie Boussac Saint-Frères on January 2nd, he signed the sale of two factories in Beauvais and Saint-Quentin. These two small units employed 134 people and produced blankets and bedspreads. The buyer was a company created for the occasion, L'Internationale Lainière, led by Gilbert Benattar, Alexandre Saban, and Jean-Yves Delanoë. They paid on credit and received subsidies from Boussac equivalent to 45,000 francs per employee, totaling 6 million. In addition, they received a subsidy of 2.5 million from the Picardy region. Benattar, Saban, and Delanoë were so linked to Boussac that they set up their headquarters at 2 Rue du Pont-Neuf, in one of the group's subsidiaries, La Belle Jardinière.”