Other candidates, including several giants of the sector, had also expressed their interest in Courtepaille, before withdrawing. STRINGER / AFP
LE FIGARO INFO – The only candidate still in the running, the La Boucherie group will take over 74 franchise restaurants and ten branch establishments. The Courtepaille brand should therefore continue, despite the closure of more than 130 restaurants.
The Courtepaille family restaurant chain, in receivership since March, will be taken over by the Angevin group La Boucherie. The owner of the brands La Boucherie, Bistrot du Boucher and Assiette au Bœuf, was the only candidate still in the running for the takeover of the famous restaurant. Its offer includes the takeover of all 74 Courtepaille franchised restaurants as well as 10 restaurants operated in branches. The Commercial Court of Nanterre, which must render its judgment on Tuesday, will officially record the takeover of the brand.
If this outcome allows the preservation of the “Courtepaille brand“, it leads to the permanent closure of more than 130 establishments and the dismissal of around 1,500 employees, according to figures put forward by the company. The other employees will be taken over by the group (158 employees) or an internal redeployment offer (512 employees) by Napaqaro. A few establishments will be the subject of individual takeovers, by employees (Gonesse, Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt, Rennes Pacé), or by franchisees (Brie-Comte-Robert, Ormesson).
Specializing in meat, La Boucherie was able to promote a concept similar to that of Courtepaille, as well as a predilection for outlying locations. The group, chaired by Bertrand Baudaire, already has more than 140 franchised restaurants in France and around the world (Thailand, Switzerland, etc.). The La Boucherie brand posted a turnover of 8.8 million euros.
Several interested parties
Other candidates, including several heavyweights in the sector, had also expressed their interest in Courtepaille before withdrawing. According to our information, it was the American fund HIG Capital (Quick) and Groupe Bertrand (Hippopotamus, Burger King, etc.). The latter had already applied for the takeover of Courtepaille in August 2020. The commercial court of Evry-Courcouronnes then preferred the offer of the Napaqaro group, judging it to be the best bid both on the social level with “the takeover of 2,208 employees», than strategic with a «more ambitious business plan“.
According to several sources, the offers from HIG Capital and Groupe Bertrand were only “plots“, providing for the recovery “one or a few restaurants only“. Candidate “outsider“, the entrepreneur Hakim Benotmane (Nabab Kebab) had for his part proposed to take over all the restaurants of the chain, arousing great hope among the employees of Courtepaille. His candidacy was ultimately dismissed by the court.