Willot Brothers

""A sin confessed is half forgiven..." Popular saying"

"serrée qui a lieu à leur siège de Chilly-Mazarin, les frères Willot emportent le morceau au nez et à la barbe de la Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas qui pensait enlever la mise grâce à son aura et à ses moyen"

"The Boussac episode was merely a breath of fresh air. This operation also had the advantage of refurbishing the brothers' image and eliminating a competitor who was undercutting market prices."

"When they discover Christian Dior, the Willot brothers are very discreet. They tread on the carpet of the offices on Avenue Montaigne on tiptoes and dare not show themselves too much in the workshops located on the upper floors... They especially do not want to disrupt this fine cash-producing machine and will only make a discreet appearance at the avenue Montaigne store. Jean-Pierre admiringly contemplates the cash flow from this fine conquest."

"Sleep tight, good people... "Good fellows, these Willots," headlines the Liberté du Nord. Le Matin of January 21, not to be outdone, writes: "How can one not admire, indeed, a group that storms companies, suddenly announces massive layoffs, juggles billions, and wants its brand image to no longer resemble that of the big bad wolf...""

"Advertising sells. The proceeds from the sale exceed all expectations and bring in more than 10 million francs, barely a month of the losses generated by BSF.... This episode, extensively commented on in the press, will contribute to maintaining a despicable image of the brothers, financiers with the demeanor of beasts, scattering a luxurious jumble, without conscience or scruple, just as they announce the elimination of nearly a thousand jobs."

"Apart from the petty political considerations mentioned above, two main reasons can explain the brothers' descent into hell. The decision to acquire Galeries Anspach and especially Korvettes was a huge strategic error."

"Moreover, to ensure that the brothers cannot return to the head of their group, the government has passed the following provision in article 21-1 of the law of September 15, 1981: "When it considers that the survival of the company requires it, the court, upon the request of the public prosecutor or on its own motion, may, by a reasoned decision, notified to the parties, condition the approval of any concordat in advance on the replacement of one or more corporate officers.""

"Quickly, a witch-hunt atmosphere is established around the brothers and the responsible executives of the group. The brothers are followed day and night by police cars. They must surrender their passports and driving licenses to the judicial authorities. They are prohibited from leaving the country. Both their headquarters and their homes are thoroughly searched by Customs. Customs also has a list of forty executives, potentially suspected of complicity, in case they cross the borders with compromising documents or valuables."

"The need for cash flow continues to grow, and the president's star continues to fade...""

"• 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..."

"Without executive powers, the brothers seek to monetize their stake. They are approached by Worms Bank, already a shareholder with 10% and wishing to increase its stake. Fair players, they inform Bernard Arnault who also wishes to consolidate his relative majority. Under equal conditions, they agree to give preference to the latter. A negotiation meeting takes place on a Sunday at the office of the chairman Letartre. All four brothers are present, along with two of their wives. A fierce negotiation begins. The brothers value their stake at 600 million francs, equivalent to a value of 1,140 francs per share. Bernard Arnault chokes and stands firm on the figure of 250 francs which they had accepted during the sale of the first 20%. After long hours of discussion, the parties reach an agreement on the price of 760 francs per share, subject to the confirmation of support from Crédit Lyonnais to finance the operation and guarantee the sellers of the payment of the part of the settlement payable over time. The amount of the acquisition is to be paid over three years. Their stake is thus valued at 400 million francs. The four brothers sign the transfer slips for their shares. Confirmation of support from Crédit Lyonnais cannot be given until the following Monday evening at the earliest. The signed deeds and documents are entrusted to Michel Liagre, who will implement them only after receiving and verifying the commitments from Crédit Lyonnais."

"The Willot brothers have left the business scene for more than thirty years now. Generations born at the end of the thirty glorious years probably do not even know their name. And yet their feats of arms, at the time, largely made headlines and deserve to be told. This is the subject of the book by Hervé Maupin, who participated as an actor with them in the structuring of the sclerotic sector of the textile industry caught off guard by too rapid opening of borders. Originating from the middle bourgeoisie of the North, at the head of a modest family business, the Willot brothers will, through force of energy, common sense, and ingenuity, overturn an industrial world trapped in past splendors. Their methods and physical appearance made them favored targets of journalists and caricaturists. Very soon, they were nicknamed the "Daltons." Daring and conquering, they cheerfully trampled on the turf of the establishment. Their binge of acquisitions, a real headlong rush, eventually caused them to bite the dust. The economic and social stakes they represented with the arrival of the Left in power in 1981 led to a pseudo-nationalization of their industrial activities."

"A simple law governs the functioning of the industrial machine: the need to have sufficient equity to finance inventory and work-in-progress, customer accounts, and investments, a condition essential for its sustainability. This equity can be usefully supplemented by recourse to supplier credit and medium and long term loans. Equity could also have been found by increasing the capital of already listed group companies or by introducing profitable subsidiaries or activities on the stock market. But their lack of profitability did not allow it, and the brothers preferred to remain masters in their own house."

"The acquisition of new businesses then becomes a means of survival and not as an end in a strategy of external growth."

"In this world of French textiles, very dispersed and inward-looking, the "Willot machine" acted like a sort of boa constrictor that would swallow entire swaths of industries, to return only restructured factories, stripped of their surplus jobs and their non-operational assets that had been of no use until then. It’s a kind of recycling, done with the financial means at hand. These operations worry actors and observers because of their scale and setups, but public authorities eventually come to see them as a natural phenomenon, often useful, or at worst, a necessary evil. The Willot brothers will not have been just "quacksalvagers of lame ducks"."