AST Group’s network of homebuilder dealers and off-site low-carbon compant Vestack present a joint rescue plan to relaunch the POBI plant and save the hundreds of jobs threatened by the receivership proceedings.
The AST group, which with sales of €250 million was one of the leaders in single-family home construction, was heavily impacted by the slowdown in the real estate market, and placed in receivership on August 1, 2024.
Two takeover bids remain out of the three initially received by the Lyon Commercial Court on September 30. These mainly concerned the POBI plant, specialized in the production of timber-frame walls, and its two networks of timber-frame home and garden studio builders.
Nearly a thousand direct and indirect jobs are at stake, including around a hundred employees at the POBI plant in La Charité-sur-Loire (58), nearly 250 jobs with the dealer network and more than a thousand jobs with local subcontractors.
The dealer network, which distributes and builds single-family homes for the AST Group, has decided to join forces with Vestack. This joint offer will leverage the Vestack group’s expertise in modular wood construction to ensure the revival of the POBI factory and distribution network, and thus save the jobs and brands developed over 14 years by AST groupe and its dealers.
The latest competing bid is from HEXAOM and TRECOBAT. This consortium of AST Groupe’s direct competitors, with the largest market shares in the single-family home construction sector, would like to seize the opportunity of AST Groupe’s liquidation to strengthen its position in this sector. The two behemoths had agreed back in September to submit a joint bid to take over POBI’s brands and production facilities from the court. However, they need to obtain approval from the competition authorities, which will be complicated given their dominant position in a shrinking market. Their project would entail significant cost increases and risks for the dealer network, putting at risk the long-term viability of the POBI plant, for which dealers are the only outlet.
The offer supported by the dealers and Vestack is characterized by significant investment and a focus on innovation, enabling us to anticipate decarbonization standards in the construction industry and make the POBI plant more competitive. This offer embodies a collaborative, people-focused approach, with pooled resources and the development of employee shareholding. The dealers and Vestack are committed to preserving local jobs at the POBI plant, as well as at dealer agencies throughout France.
What solution will the Commercial Court choose? See you at the end of November for the outcome of this sensitive case, as much for the preservation of industrial jobs as for the real estate purchasing power of French people.
About the distribution network
As one of the Group’s key strategic activities, the dealer network markets low-carbon single-family homes. This network is made up of all the men and women who work in the sales agencies, as well as the teams of sales and technical coordinators who work with franchisees to provide them with advice and friendly support.
Distributed throughout France, the franchise network comprises 111 sales outlets.
Press contact: Raphael Evariste – Raphael.EVARISTE@natilia.fr
About POBI
Backed by its expertise as a manufacturer and builder since 1929, POBI produces timber-frame houses, carpentry, joinery and low-carbon modular construction to the highest quality standards.
Find out more: www.pobi.fr
About Vestack
Vestack designs and builds low-carbon buildings in the form of modules assembled off-site from bio-based materials. The company enables its clients to construct buildings with a carbon footprint cut by a factor of three, twice as fast, and at no extra cost compared with traditional construction.
Vestack operates as a general contractor for residential buildings, offices, housing estates, student accommodation, senior residences and educational facilities.
Press contact: 07 56 96 91 70 – hello@vestack.com
Find out more: www.vestack.com
