There was still some hope, but the chapter has come to a definitive close at Lardin-Saint-Lazare in the Dordogne. Taken over by the French group SPB, following the decision of the Bordeaux Commercial Court on February 27, 2026, The former Condat paper mill, which once employed 200 people, will not resume its traditional operations. The possibility of restarting Line 8?which had been kept in working order for several months?was ultimately abandoned.
The plant had been producing paper since 1907. Faced with significant difficulties, The paper manufacturer had filed for bankruptcy protection in 2025 . The search for a buyer within the industry had not, at that time, resulted in any offers from paper manufacturers.
The resumption of service on Line 8 is under review for five months
However, SPB had not immediately ruled out a partial resumption of production. The buyer had asked the Austrian paper manufacturer Delfort to examine the conditions for restarting production line 8.
The review lasted five months. SPB notes that it funded the maintenance of the line during that period in order to keep it operational pending the completion of the study.
The result rules out this last possibility of continuing to operate on paper. "After five months of analysis, his answer is no: it's not profitable under current market conditions." , says Ghislain Huot, president of Condat Solutions, an SPB subsidiary responsible for the site's redevelopment.
This conclusion follows the absence of any paper mill candidate during the takeover process. "It wasn't us who turned the page on paper at Condat?it was the market," says Ghislain Huot.
"We say this with respect for this site: a factory that opened in 1907, families, expertise. But the real question wasn't 'paper or artificial intelligence.' It was: new industries or an abandoned industrial wasteland, with all the risks that entails."
The former paper mill to be repurposed
SPB is now redeveloping the 51 hectares and 126,000 m 2 from buildings to various activities. The project relies in particular on the use of the paper mill?s existing electrical infrastructure, including a high-voltage substation that is already connected to the national grid.
The main planned activity is a facility that provides computing power for AI. The program also includes the restoration of the site?s energy infrastructure, as well as activities related to vegetable greenhouses and wood processing, which are partially powered by heat recovered from the computers.
About 20 former Condat employees are still working on site to handle the upkeep, maintenance, and security of the facilities.
The first conversion work is scheduled to begin in late 2026, while the first 25 MW phase of the data center is planned for late 2027.
