On Monday October 13, during an extraordinary social and economic committee (CSE) meeting, employees of the Condat paper mill were officially informed of the sale of the Lardin-Saint-Lazare industrial site in the Dordogne, according to Ouest France. The announcement was made by Dominique Bernard, who had been appointed plant president a few days earlier. The paper mill, which still employs 202 people, has been placed under a sale mandate by its parent company, the Spanish Lecta group.
For its part, Le Lardin town council has commissioned two consultancies to explore other avenues of takeover Ici Périgord (ex- France Bleu ).
This sale, long called for by union representatives and local elected representatives, comes at a time of great uncertainty for the future of the site.
Lecta's industrial choices sharply criticized
Unions condemn industrial strategy imposed by Lecta to cease production of Condat Périgord coated paper in 2023 replaced by glassine. This decision led to the loss of almost 180 jobs. In a press release published in September, the Filpac CGT denounced a misjudged strategic shift: "Lecta's strategy was to focus on glassine paper, abandoning the coated paper that had been the site's strength. A bad bet: glassine is not selling at the expected price. Meanwhile, demand for coated paper, essential for the printing industry, exploded."
The union also criticizes the public authorities for approving this transformation without taking into account the specific nature of the Condat site, the last manufacturer of double-sided coated paper in France.
Under the spectre of closure in early 2026
The site's new chairman, Dominique Bernard, who describes himself as a Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), has been tasked with organizing the sale within a particularly tight timeframe. He has two months to identify a buyer, with a deadline of December 31, 2025.
According to Ici Périgord five to ten potential buyers have already expressed an interest. However, several employee representatives present at the works council meeting reported that Dominique Bernard had raised the possibility of liquidating the site in early 2026 if no takeover project came to fruition. Salaries would be maintained until the end of the year, but no guarantees were given beyond this date.
