From basketball floors… to wooden furniture! Even though he has been playing for years on the other side of the Atlantic in the NBA, the North American basketball championship, Rudy Gobert does not forget his French roots.
The double Olympic vice-champion with the Blues proved it once again by coming to the aid of the Vendée furniture manufacturer Gautier. A company placed in receivership in July 2024. Gobert is part of a group of benefactors who invested to save this company.
The decision, rendered on December 2 by the Poitiers commercial court, “marks the end of a period of uncertainty and opens a new page for the Vendée family business,” the company said in a press release.
This is “a step that we are taking with humility and determination,” declared its general director for France David Soulard, quoted in the press release.
The furniture company, whose headquarters is based in Boupère (Vendée), was placed in receivership in July 2024 by the Poitiers commercial court, at its own request.
« Sensible au made in France »
The company has been experiencing significant financial difficulties for two years, linked to the rise in the cost of raw materials and energy and the fall in its international sales.
The recovery came at the cost of a “sacrifice made by its state creditors, banks, family shareholders, partner suppliers”, concedes the company which now only has 500 employees, compared to 700 a year and a half ago.
“Industrialists, friends, family and historical partners have chosen to invest to support Gautier in this relaunch,” also specified the company, which is targeting 75 million euros in turnover this year.
The French basketball international Rudy Gobert participated in the new line of 14 million euros of debt with which the company leaves. At the end of 2020, he signed a contract with the Utah Jazz for 205 million dollars (176 million euros) over five seasons.
The Minnesota Timberwolves player, “sensitive to made in France”, is a “long-time close friend” of the company, she assures. Their relationship dates back to the time when Gautier sponsored the Cholet training center, a club for which Rudy Gobert played between 2011 and 2013. “With Gautier, I grew up,” the pivot then proclaimed in the communication campaign.
The furniture manufacturer and designer, established in Vendée since 1960, has three production sites. It is approximately 80% owned by the Soulard family, with the remaining 20% shared between bank shareholders and employees.
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