French direct seller is saved from bankruptcy
The recovery plan provided by the Montpellier-based cosmetics company was authorised by the French bankruptcy court yesterday and the group can now proceed with operations.
Help came from the luxury cosmetics group Garraud Paris which will take a substantial and evolving part of the group, according to local press reports.
Direct selling attractive to Garraud
Lexel co-founder Fernand Lario said the company had three potential partners; however it was Garraud Paris that finally won out.
“The main reason behind the final choice was Jean-Pierre Guay’s [the director of Garraud Paris] wish to get involved with direct selling,” Fernand Lario told CosmeticsDesign.com.
Guay took the reins of the Paris-based company in May and was looking to branch out into the direct selling channel, but not with the Garraud Paris brand, explained Lario.
The three directors, Fernand Lario and Guilhem Putscher of Lexel and Jean-Pierre Guay of Garraud, will now work towards the international expansion of Lexel and the growth of Garraud via the direct selling distribution channel.
As early as 2010 and 2011 the direct seller hopes to be operating in international markets, Lario said.
In 2004 the company, which counts over 800 staff, recorded the highest sales figures of any direct seller operating solely in the skin care domain, he said.
Obviously the 18 months of bankruptcy has cut sales but the company is confident that international expansion is possible and estimates that in 10 years all creditors should be reimbursed.
