After plans to turn around and attract investment funds failed, French rail cooperative Railcoop is going into judicial liquidation.
“The planned scheme for exiting judicial reorganisation is now obsolete. Consequently, the Commercial Court of Cahors will have no option but to rule, on 15 April 2024, on the liquidation of our cooperative,” indicated Railcoop’s management in a message sent to its shareholders.
Founded in 2019, the cooperative has set itself the ambitious goal of launching the Bordeaux-Lyon link via Périgueux, Limoges, Montluçon and Roanne. Initially planned for summer 2022, the launch was postponed several times, with the last deadline put forward being the second quarter of this year.
Big problems with funding
In October 2023, at Railcoop’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, 88.48% of shareholders voted in favour of continuing operations and 85.5% voted in favour of continuing negotiations with Spanish investment fund Serena Partners. Previously, the Board of Directors had concluded that it was imperative to open collective proceedings before the Commercial Court, i.e. the liquidation of the company due to lack of funds to continue operations. Raicoop officials then backtracked, saying they were examining “all possible means” to avoid a judicial liquidation.
In June 2023, the company announced that it was “in very urgent need” of funds, namely to manage to raise €500,000 from its 14,500 shareholders by the end of the summer. But by early October, only €383 500 had been put into the “piggy bank”, according to chairman and CEO Nicolas Debaisieux.
At the end of September 2023, Debaisieux had announced that he had received a letter of intent from a European fund that intended to become a majority shareholder in these two new companies, coming up with a quarter of the €49 million needed to operate the Bordeaux-Lyon railway line from 14 December 2024. Another quarter was to come from other investors and the remaining half was to be secured through a bank loan.
Initially, he would not give the name of this investment fund, citing confidentiality, but then revealed that it was the Spanish Serena Industrial Partners.
In spring 2023, as Railway Pro also reported, Railcoop abandoned its only freight line, between Capdenac (Lot) and Saint-Jory (Haute-Garonne). The company’s management at the time justified its abandonment by the inconvenience caused by strikes by railway workers, the delay in bringing the second freight line into service, the difficulties faced by its logistics base at Capdenac, and overly long negotiations with certain customers.
Now, Railcoop is going into judicial liquidation.
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