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Brandt, the century-old French appliance maker owned by Algerian conglomerate Cevital, has been ordered into liquidation, ending a decade-long effort by billionaire Issad Rebrab to build a European foothold and wiping out about 700 jobs.
A commercial court in Nanterre, outside Paris, ruled Dec. 11 to place Brandt France into judicial liquidation after roughly two months in receivership and a last-ditch search for a buyer. François Bonneau, president of the Centre-Val de Loire region, called the decision “terrible news” and a hard blow for French industry.
The judges turned down the only plan still on the table: a proposed worker cooperative, or SCOP, backed by turnaround specialist Revive and pledges of public money. The proposal aimed to preserve roughly 300 positions and keep both manufacturing sites running - Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle near Orléans and Vendôme — but was deemed too fragile to restart the business, according to officials and reports.
Brandt’s collapse lands as a symbolic defeat for France’s push to rebuild industrial capacity. The company was widely described as the country’s last major maker of large household appliances. It generated about 260 million euros in annual revenue, with roughly 70% tied to the French market, and also owned familiar labels including De Dietrich, Sauter and Vedette.
Cevital bought Brandt in 2014 out of the ashes of Spain’s Fagor, promising investment, jobs and a revival of French know-how. For years, the group sold the deal as a bridge between France and Algeria - and as a springboard into Europe.
Instead, Brandt was squeezed by a sharp cooling in European housing and renovation, which hits demand for built-in kitchens and big-ticket appliances. At the same time, Asian manufacturers - particularly from China, but also Turkey and South Korea - flooded the market with cheaper products, eroding margins. Industry observers say financing also tightened as losses mounted, leaving suppliers and lenders less willing to wait for payment.
The contrast is striking across the Mediterranean. While the French plants are shutting down, Cevital has pushed Brandt-branded manufacturing in Algeria, building a major complex in Sétif that employs about 4,000 people and produces millions of appliances a year for domestic sales and export.
Brandt France was never Cevital's biggest earner, but it was its most visible European trophy. With the factories dark and workers facing layoffs, that trophy has now turned into a cautionary tale. The shutdown takes effect immediately.
