Bercy has recently issued invitations to tender to manage the large number of corporate restructuring or transformation cases that will be filed in the coming months. Investment bankers, accountants, specialist lawyers, shareholders, court-appointed administrators, interim managers... are all preparing for an increase in their activities and an explosion in the number of bankruptcies. Several restructuring skills are in demand.
Many files arrive at Bercy
There aren't many company rescue specialists at Bercy. In all, only a dozen or so are available to propose solutions to players in difficulty. However, since last March, files have been arriving in large numbers: 60 have been submitted to the Comité interministériel de restructuration industrielle (Ciri), compared with 40 last year.
The number of business restructuring or transformation cases is set to rise again in the coming months. Bercy wishes to anticipate the wave of companies in difficulty and is looking for professionals for the next two years.
Restructuring specialists get ready
Restructuring players are gearing up for a surge in activity. Among them, law firms are getting organized. "Covid made us realize that we had to get into this business; we couldn't afford to fall behind. Some of them have equipped themselves with the latest big names on the market, but we need doctors to respond to the urgency," Édouard de Lamaze, co-manager of Carbonnier Lamaze Rasle, told Les Echos newspaper.
Investment bankers looking for financing, chartered accountants examining the company's cash position, and interim managers implementing transitions are also in demand.
For its part, Bercy has launched a series of contracts to surround itself with qualified professionals, in order to cope with the sharp rise in demand. Their main task will be to find restructuring and financial optimization solutions to ensure the company's long-term viability. Wherever possible, the aim is to give managers time to implement long-term solutions.
An expected explosion in bankruptcies
The aid offered by the government provided only a temporary reprieve for the companies hardest hit by the crisis. The first job protection plans were announced some time after the deconfliction. Today, many companies are initiating procedures that will take several months to translate into actual job cuts.
In all, over 13,000 judicial liquidation procedures have been opened since the spring, as shown by publications in the Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales (BODACC). However, this low figure is misleading given the current situation. "There has been a windfall effect. State aid also protected companies that should not have continued to exist," restructuring lawyer Jean-Charles Gancia tells Franceinfo.
For the time being, only financial professionals are seeing the storm lift. Eight Advisory has observed a 30% increase in the number of cases compared to last year. This observation should gradually be shared by all restructuring specialists.