CBSF

"Bernard Arnault writes: "I will personally ensure the management of CBSF and will proceed with the implementation of the industrial and social plan as communicated to competent authorities. I will have the assistance of Mr. Julien Charlier who will serve as both my advisor and a member of the CBSF board of directors. Mr. Charlier could only become a corporate officer of CBSF if he ceased to be a corporate officer of DMC. A technical cooperation agreement will be concluded between DMC and CBSF. Finally, Mr. Willot will, of course, not take any part in the management of CBSF and will no longer hold any executive positions within the company or the group.""

"Bernard Arnault wrote to the Prime Minister: "The financial assistance requested from the public authorities will be limited to: the incorporation into the capital of CBSF of the advances from Sopari, up to a limit of 380 million in grants or equivalents; the granting of a loan to CBSF from FDES of 100 million on the best terms. Moreover, I am counting on the support of the public authorities to obtain the participatory loan of 160 million provided for in the financial protocol of June 1982, the payment of which should be made in advance." In return, Bernard Arnault promises the State to make it participate in the profits it could derive from the deal: "The financial assistance granted by the State would benefit to the extent of 300 million from a clause of return to better fortune: they would be reimbursed up to 25% of the dividends distributed annually by SFFAW, or a legal person succeeding it, from the year 1991 included to the year 2005 included.""

"After being appointed president of CBSF, Bernard Arnault takes over the coveted presidency of Christian Dior on March 20, 1985."

"This company will be established with a capital of 200 million francs. Its new corporate name will be Compagnie Boussac Saint Frères. Starting from July 1, 1982, it will receive from the provisional administrator the lease management of Boussac Saint Frères for a period of five years. In financial terms, the inventory will be brought in at a value of 1.1 billion francs and the realizable and available assets for 500 million francs, all payable at the end of the five years. The royalty to be paid to BSF by CBSF will be 0.10% of the tax-excluded turnover."

"The first procedure concerns the appeal that the Willot brothers had filed against a judgment delivered on December 23, 1983, which declared the merger of assets between BSF and SFFAW. This decision was part of the conditions for the implementation of the July 1983 agreement between the Willot brothers and René Mayer. Having not been applied, these agreements are now the subject of another annulment procedure initiated by the Willot brothers before the Lille commercial court, which was to take place on October 12, 1984, with a judgment to be delivered in November. Finally, the brothers will not pursue their appeal for various reasons: it does not contradict their position regarding agreements with CBSF, it has no impact on the criminal proceedings they face for misappropriation of corporate assets, it opens the way to a concordat solution, and finally, would reduce the liabilities to be repaid from 3.1 to 2.7 billion francs."

"In a dramatic turn, it is learned in the meantime that Bernard Arnault, CEO of Ferinel, signed an agreement with the brothers on November 14, subject to the cancellation of the previous commitments with CBSF. This new agreement provides a scheme relatively identical to the previous one. Bernard Arnault acquires 20% of the brothers' stake in SFFAW for 32.5 million francs, payable in seven years, interest-free. The remaining 80% are subject to a loan for use which provides him the benefit of a usufruct. The signatory is advised by Dreyfus Bank which has committed to assemble a group of investors likely to contribute 400 million francs in the capital increase of SFFAW."

"• - The Ferinel group, with a turnover of one billion, a major real estate group from the North, specialized in leisure real estate and in the construction of individual houses. Bernard Arnault is already ahead thanks to the agreement that has just been signed with the brothers; • - The Prouvost group, with a turnover of 7 billion, led by Christian Derveloy, the leading European wool group, which benefits from the support of Georges Plescoff, who has already worked on this file at the request of IDI; • - The Bidermann group, with a turnover of 3.4 billion, led by Georges Jollès, who was, it must be remembered, for more than three months, the general manager of CBSF and who therefore knows the dossier perfectly; • - Bernard Tapie, with a turnover of 4 billion, who lets it be known that he is also a candidate to take over the business and announces having the support of banks and investors to close a round of funding, thanks especially to an Arab businessman and American banks."

"In 1984, SOPARI granted three current account advances: 180 million in March, 200 million in July, and 35 million in October. It is now time to find a private group capable of taking control of CBSF and SFFAW. The ground is being leveled to allow the entrance of the contenders, but nothing is decided yet as long as we do not know who holds the ownership of the SFFAW shares... The court date for the action to annul the agreements concluded between the brothers and CBSF is postponed to November 19 for a judgment that would be rendered on December 17, 1984."

"• He announces a takeover plan supported by a contribution of one and a half billion francs... excuse me for the little... Speaking of the Ferinel agreement, for him, this choice would betray "the nullity or complicity" of the State, and would amount to letting the group be dismantled to the benefit of an operator who only thinks of doing "real estate." He denounces the volatility of the brothers with the devastating slogan: "an agreement with the Willots is a weather agreement", while knowing that the solution to the BSF case must still go through them... For public authorities, the matter seems settled. They want things to move quickly. Gérard Bélorgey recounts: "One late November evening, on the snow-slush-covered highway between Lille and the coal mining district... I received a phone call from Matignon. Being the CEO of CBSF, and also the president of the subsidiary AUFINEC, which was central to the setup of the 1983 agreement with the Willots, and finally a signatory to various litigations we were forced into to clear the matter, I was indispensable. I was ordered to urgently go to Rue de Varenne to sign all necessary withdrawals so that the agreement sealed between the Willots and Bernard Arnault could be implemented..."

""For the unions, the role of the 'providential' textile operator, Julien Charlier, remains unclear. How will relations with DMC, the competing group he leads, be organized? A joint statement was published on December 18 by Mr. Arnault and Mr. Mayer, to announce and comment on the event: "...The intention expressed from the beginning by the public authorities was to create favorable conditions for the reintegration of industrial activities within a group destined to develop within the private sector framework. The interest shown by several industrial and financial groups in the takeover demonstrated that this objective had been achieved thanks to the action led over the past three years by CBSF, with the support of the public authorities."