At Valtus Alliance, we rely on an international network of restructuring experts – because legislation and restructuring practices vary significantly from country to country. In this interview, Thomas Tschol, Managing Partner at Management Factory, speaks with Christophe Mare, Partner at Valtus France, about the particularities of the French restructuring landscape.
Christophe, how would you describe the French restructuring landscape?
In France we have established a collaborative ecosystem for business recovery. When French companies face financial distress, a robust and well-structured professional network steps in to support turnaround efforts. This multidisciplinary ecosystem brings together public institutions and private-sector experts working toward one goal: preserving businesses, employment, and economic value.
Who is involved?
Well, our professional restructuring network has seven different groups of players:
- Commercial Courts (Tribunaux de commerce) – Specialized judges overseeing restructuring and insolvency proceedings, ensuring legal fairness and creditor protection.
- Administrateurs judiciaires (Court-appointed administrators) – Appointed by the court to assist or manage companies during safeguard or receivership procedures. They play a central role in diagnosing, negotiating, and implementing restructuring plans.
- Mandataires judiciaires (Judicial representatives) – These professionals safeguard the interests of creditors and oversee asset distribution during insolvency proceedings.
- Chartered Accountants & Auditors – Often the first to detect financial fragility; they support early diagnosis and help prepare necessary documents for restructuring.
- Lawyers – Provide legal advice, represent stakeholders, and structure negotiations, especially in complex or cross-border cases.
- Banks & Financial Advisers – Work with distressed companies to renegotiate liabilities, inject financing, or coordinate with public and private creditors.
- Public Bodies (like CIRI, CODEFI, CCSF) – Offer mediation, coordination, and support to avoid court proceedings when possible and assist with public claims.”
How do they interact?
This network operates through cooperation, often under tight time constraints. Company management plays a central role, supported by their advisors. When necessary, legal proceedings introduce court-appointed professionals to manage or supervise the process. Communication and trust between all stakeholders – public and private, legal and financial – are key to building viable restructuring plans. France’s restructuring network is a prime example of how diverse professionals can collaborate to support business continuity and economic resilience.
Does your government support companies in crisis – for example, through specific subsidies or state-backed loans?
Yes, it does. Did you know that France has a specialized task force dedicated to supporting companies in financial distress? The Interministerial Committee for Industrial Restructuring (CIRI), operating under the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, plays a key role in assisting French companies facing serious financial challenges. Created in 1982, CIRI works discreetly with businesses—primarily medium and large companies – with significant economic or social impact. Its mission? To facilitate constructive dialogue between the company, its creditors, and other stakeholders in order to find restructuring solutions and preserve jobs and industrial know-how. With a highly experienced team, CIRI acts as a neutral public mediator, helping design and implement turnaround plans, and restoring financial stability as a pathway to long-term business viability.
What mechanisms are in place for distressed companies?
In France, when businesses face financial pressures, two local-level public mechanisms step in to help: the CCSF and CODEFI.
- The Departmental Commission of Heads of Financial Services (CCSF) brings together public creditors (such as tax and social security administrations) to coordinate debt rescheduling plans for businesses struggling with public debt. Its goal? To provide breathing room for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so they can regain stability.
- The Departmental Committee for the Examination of Business Financing Issues (CODEFI) supports companies—especially small and very small businesses—facing broader financial or operational difficulties. Chaired by the local prefect and supported by the Treasury (DGFiP), CODEFI assesses critical situations and can refer cases to national restructuring bodies like the CIRI when necessary.
Present in every French département, the CCSF and CODEFI make up a local, responsive network that promotes dialogue and early intervention to preserve economic activity and employment. That’s a good example of how proximity and coordination between public institutions powerful tools for business resilience can be.
What’s the legal framework?
In France we have two distinct legal frameworks: Amicable procedures and collective proceedings. As amicable procedures are rarely used, cases are often brought before the Commercial Court. That’s often too late and as a result, the chances of a successful recovery are significantly reduced.
What does amicable procedures mean?
Amicable procedures means preventing insolvency before it strikes. When a company encounters financial difficulties but is not yet insolvent, French law offers two confidential, court-supervised tools to help reorganize and recover.
- Mandat ad hoc: At the request of the company, a court-appointed mediator (mandataire ad hoc) facilitates negotiations with creditors. The goal is to find out-of-court solutions—flexible, confidential, and fully customized.
- Conciliation: This procedure is for companies facing legal, financial, or economic difficulties (actual or foreseeable), but not yet in cessation of payments for more than 45 days. A conciliator is appointed by the court to help the company reach an amicable agreement with its key creditors and stakeholders.
Both tools are voluntary, confidential, and oriented toward preserving business activity and jobs, while avoiding formal insolvency.
How do collective proceedings work?
Collective proceedings are used when formal restructuring is required. If a company becomes insolvent – meaning it can no longer meet its payable debts with its available assets – it must enter one of three collective insolvency procedure.
- Safeguard (sauvegarde): Designed for companies not yet insolvent but facing serious difficulties, safeguard aims to restructure in a protective judicial framework, freezing debts and contracts temporarily while a plan is negotiated.
- Receivership (redressement judiciaire): For companies already insolvent, this procedure allows continued business operations under court supervision while a turnaround plan is developed.
- Liquidation (liquidation judiciaire): If recovery is impossible, the court orders the cessation of activity and the sale of assets to repay creditors.
These procedures are public, regulated by the commercial court, and aim to balance protection for the company, assurance for creditors, and preservation of employment wherever possible. You see, France offers a structured, multi-layered legal toolkit to support businesses in difficulty – encouraging early action through amicable procedures and enabling recovery or resolution when insolvency arises.
Which case in your career has most profoundly shaped your view of restructuring – and what did you learn from it?
As CEO in the media industry I led a €70M, 700-employee company through a full turnaround. This included HR restructuring, cost optimization and a company-wide digital transformation from business to support activities — all during the disruptive environment of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The key to delivering results in such contexts?
- A clear, long-term strategic vision
- Decisive and aligned execution
- Transparent communication with teams and stakeholders
- A strong, trusted partnership with HR
- Relentless focus on both people and performance
Just before joining Valtus, I applied the same transformation framework in another media group with quite similar key figures — proof that a structured approach to leadership, grounded in action and collaboration, drives sustainable impact.
How established is Private Equity in your country with regard to restructuring?
Over the past decade, a growing number of French Private Equity (PE) firms have made restructuring and distressed M&A their core expertise—helping companies in difficulty rebound and reposition for sustainable growth. It’s still a niche segment, but with strong impact.
In France, around 20 to 30 specialized funds and family offices actively focus on turnaround and special situations. Over the last 10 years, they’ve financed more than 200 distressed M&A transactions, often in coordination with courts, administrators, and public stakeholders. These investors are key players in the French restructuring ecosystem, especially during safeguard receivership or pre-pack sale processes.
How are they different from traditional leveraged buyout funds (LBO funds)?
I think there are four main differences:
- Focus on complexity: Unlike conventional LBO funds that target profitable and scalable businesses, turnaround PE funds acquire underperforming or distressed companies—often operating in difficult market environments or facing operational or financial crises.
- Agility and Speed: These investors work under tight deadlines, especially in court-led processes, and are equipped to assess and deploy capital quickly, with lean decision-making structures.
- Operational engagement: They take an active role in operational restructuring—sometimes placing interim management, renegotiating key contracts, or restructuring debt.
- Mission-Driven Investing: Beyond seeking returns, many of these players share a broader mission: saving jobs, preserving local industries, and safeguarding know-how—key pillars of France’s economic fabric.
Can you name some of these funds?
Leading names in France’s turnaround space include Perceva, Hivest Capital, Arcole Industries, Alandia Industries, Butler Industries, Prudentia Capital and several family offices as well as independent sponsors involved in complex rebuild stories. They have a strategic role in the French Economy. By stepping in when others step back, these PE investors ensure continuity for companies in crisis. They play a silent yet essential role in France’s corporate recovery landscape.