The commercial court of Grenoble has come to a decision with respect to Go Sport Group, ruling today in favor of Intersport France’s bid for the company, according to BFM Business. Making its offer in a joint venture with the Qatari firm Al-Mana, Intersport has prevailed over about 20 companies with competing offers – among them Frasers / Sports Direct. It will be taking charge of 72 stores and retaining 1,446 of the 1,574 store employees, along with the 185 employees at headquarters. This works out to about 92 percent of the staff.
The current owner, Hermione, People & Brands (HPB), is a subsidiary of Financière Immobilière Bordelaise (FIB), the holding company for the business empire of Michel Ohayon. Go has been in receivership since January.
According to BFM Business, which has reviewed the judgment, the court believes that Intersport’s offer presented greater guarantees for labor. Sports Direct, apparently, would provide no guarantee that it would keep the current employees on staff two years out or that Go Sport would survive as a banner. There was also a difference of €24 million between the bids of Intersport and Sports Direct.
