On January 19, the State sent a legal summons against the British investment fund Greybull Capital, former owner of the steelmaker Novasco which was liquidated in November 2025. It is demanding 95 million euros from it for not having kept its commitments.
After words, actions. On January 19, the Ministry of the Economy sent a legal summons to the British investment fund Greybull Capital, which had taken over the steelmaker Novasco in 2024 at the commercial court. “The State cannot accept that commitments made before the courts, before employees and the nation are not respected”assured the Minister of Industry Sébastien Martin, during a press conference. Announced the day after the judicial liquidation of three of the four Novasco sites on November 17, the initiative is unprecedented on the part of Bercy.
After the disappearance of Novasco, less than a year after its takeover in the summer of 2024 by Greybull Capital, nearly 531 employees were laid off. Only the group’s factory, in Leffrinckoucke near Dunkirk, with 144 employees, was taken over by a consortium of investors linked to the SME Metal Blanc.
95 million euros in compensation requested
The State is suing the British fund, as well as its Babator subsidiary, before the Paris Economic Affairs Court for “serious breaches” of its commitments made during the takeover of the former Ascométal. The first hearing is expected to be held on May 7, but the judgment is not expected for a year. The State is basing itself on the contractual agreement validated between the State and Greybull on June 26, 2024. The British fund then committed to investing 90 million euros. “It is on this basis that the State agreed to support the recovery and committed to lending 85 million euros”recalls Sébastien Martin.
But of these 90 million euros, only 1.5 million were actually paid by Greybull, while the State kept its word by paying the entire promised loan. “Throughout these proceedings, Greybull deceived or was not completely loyal to the State”summarizes state lawyer Bernard Grelon. In compensation, Bercy is demanding 95 million euros from the British fund, to cover the loan advanced, the accumulated tax liabilities, the aid for partial unemployment and the damage linked to the impossibility of mobilizing these public funds for something else. State lawyers also reported possible acts of criminal fraud to the public prosecutor’s office.
With this legal action, the Minister for Industry intends to send a warning to buyers of companies in difficulty. “It is essential to send a clear message: faced with such behavior, the State will not let this happen and is on the side of employees”assures Sébastien Martin. Other files are being closely monitored by Bercy, at a time when business failures are reaching a historic level. The Ministry of Industry has thus established a committee to monitor Europlasma’s promises in the Brittany foundry, where employees are still waiting to see the promised investments come.
Risk measured by employees
Basically, the Minister of Industry considers that he did not lack vigilance. The interministerial committee for industrial restructuring (CIRI) was “permanently in contact with Greybull to negotiate with them», assures Sébastien Martin. In its defense, in 2024 the State was not really in a position to impose its conditions on the British buyer, due to a lack of candidates to take over the four former Ascometal factories, including that of Hagondange and its 450 employees. The British fund had positioned itself at the last minute on the takeover of factories. During the recovery, “we immediately measured the risk. All the funding for the first year was provided by the State.recalls Yann Amadoro, the employee representative, 476 of whom will simultaneously take legal action against Greybull to obtain compensation.
Since then, the investment fund has argued that it ignored the extent of Novasco’s difficulties to justify its lack of investment. “There could be a more organized upstream consultation to monitor investment commitments”says Christophe Clerc, one of the lawyers mandated by the employees. The socialist deputy for Hagondange Belkhir Belhaddad is for his part proposing a bill allowing in similar cases to pledge the shares of the buyer up to the amount of the State’s investment, in order to allow the latter to become a shareholder of the company in the event of non-compliance with commitments.
