Europlasma (Fonderie de Bretagne) in discussion with a defense sector industrial

The leaders of the industrial sites buyer in difficulty Europlasma (Fonderie de Bretagne, Valdunes, Forges de Tarbes) assured on Thursday during a parliamentary hearing that the potential buyer of the group’s defense activities was a “French industrialist in the defense sector, who has a long career in defense”.

They also indicated that the company had informed the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) before its communication and that the potential investor had “met with the DGA”, the Directorate General of Armament. “Today everyone knows who it is at the level of the DGA and the Ministry of Defense,” the Ministry of the Armed Forces affirmed in the context of an investigation commission on the “predation of productive capacities by hedge funds”.

“We did not decide to sell all the defense activities but to seek a partner,” specified Jérôme Garnache-Creuillot. However, his company announced on April 10 negotiations “for the sale of its defense-related activities for an amount of 150 million euros”.

Suspected market manipulation

Interrogated on April 15 by the deputies of the defense commission on the situation of Europlasma, the delegate general for Armament, Patrick Pailloux, had indicated that he was following “obviously the situation with a lot of attention”. “The project is anything but finalized,” he said, counting “a lot on the Forges de Tarbes” and on the Fonderie de Bretagne.

The LFI rapporteur of the investigation mission, Aurélie Trouvé, declared during the hearing that she had reported Europlasma’s communication to the AMF “for suspicion of market manipulation” and that the stock market regulator had “responded by saying that (it) would study the case”. Europlasma, listed on the stock exchange, has not yet communicated its 2025 annual results, more than three months after the end of the fiscal year.