A €60 million takeover plan has been put forward to French tableware group Arc International. The injection of €60 million would help finance the restructuring of the group and the modernisation of its main production site at Arques, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. The takeover offer was led by PHP, an American investment structure founded by Tim Gollin, a former associate of One Equity Partners, as well as Cédric Aymard and Didier Riebel in France, two specialists in business transformation. If accepted, PHP’s proposal will maintain Arc’s production and staff levels in Arques. It will also provide a full transformation of the mode of production, from a ‘push’ model (driven by production) to a ‘pull’ one (driven by client orders) with smaller production batches and an organisation geared towards ‘lean manufacturing’. If accepted, the takeover will include investments aimed at upgrading plant and equipment at the Arques site. Arc International’s creditors, national and local public authorities as well as other debtors have reached an agreement for the restructuring of Arc International's historical debt. The restructuring will improve the financial situation of the company. Arc warned that staff reductions will be inevitable due to the scale of the transformation. Tim Gollin, Cédric Aymard and Didier Riebel will take on operational responsibilities during the transformation alongside key managers of the group and members of the founding family. “Arc International is an iconic French company”, said Mr Gollin. “We strongly believe in the development potential of this company in France and abroad, through the unique know-how of its staff and the production of high-quality functional products with innovative design.”
