Willot family

"What happened? The Willot family were reportedly informed that if they did not sign with Arnault, the judicial liquidation of their assets would be a foregone conclusion. But how were they allowed to sign this agreement? Various clues already testified to the discreet commitment of the public authorities to Arnault. In particular, the presence of Elf and Total, public and semi-public companies, in his round table. Suddenly, things become more obvious: because of the indictments they were facing, the Willot family did not have free disposal of their shares, which were placed under the double sequestration of the Boussac bankruptcy trustees and the president of the Crédit national. But both have agreed to lift the sequestration. On whose orders? The trustees are under the jurisdiction of the commercial court, which was then under the influence of the State, at least for matters of this importance. As for the president of the Crédit national, he is appointed by the government and takes his orders from it. His decision therefore testifies to the support that Bernard Arnault enjoys at the highest level. Simply because of his good presentation, his polytechnic degree, and his perfect knowledge of the case? This is the most favorable hypothesis."

"again. On November 14th, they sign a memorandum of understanding with Arnault under which they sell him 20% of their SFFAW shares, at the unit price of 250 francs, or 32 million francs payable in seven years. In addition, they lend him the shares they still have, for one year, until December 15th, 1985, with all the powers attached to them. In exchange, Bernard Arnault undertakes to have the government accept a recovery plan for the group and to present a concordat. To achieve these objectives, he plans to carry out a capital increase of 400 million, from which the Willot family agrees to be excluded."

"Suppliers demanded that René Mayer be paid in cash? They now accept payment within fifty days. On their side, bankers open a credit line of 340 million francs. The lead banks for this loan are Société Générale and Crédit Commercial de France, the bank that deliberately assassinated the Willot family in 1981. Both are nationalized."

"However, successive administrations by Marcel Boussac, the Willot family, and René Mayer have left a mountain of debt, amounting to no less than 3.6 billion francs. Before figuring out how to repay this debt (meaning which assets he will have to sell), Arnault's primary concern is to reduce this amount by obtaining waivers and payment deferrals from creditors. He will therefore ask creditors to make sacrifices, using a powerful argument: he will only invest 400 million in the company if his conciliation proposals are approved. In the event of rejection, there will be no other option but judicial liquidation. The implication is that in this case, creditors will have nothing left to do but weep."

"Jean-Claude Taté, on the other hand, is not offended by this. This good-natured person is one of the few leaders who has had shareholders such as the Willot family, Bernard Arnault, and François Pinault. He believes that all of his successive shareholders have delegated their power to him and have shown respect for his independence. While he considers François Pinault to be much warmer than Bernard Arnault, he has found him to be just as demanding, and he does not complain about it."