Naf Naf: call for tenders issued to find buyers
Naf Naf employees are yet again facing a time of uncertainty. Less than a year after the French womenswear chain changed hands after receivership proceedings, it was again placed in receivership on May 30. A search for buyers has just been triggered by the court in Bobigny, seeking investors wanting to acquire all or part of Naf Naf, which had been bought by its Turkish supplier Migiboy Tekstil in June 2024.
According to the call for tenders issued by the court, Naf Naf currently has 588 employees and operates 102 directly owned stores and 11 affiliated ones in France. In addition, it has 90 retail concessions and five stores outside France. The Migi Naf Naf company, which owns the chain, generated revenue of €47.5 million over a nine-month period, from June 2024 to March 2025. The last reported revenue result for Naf Naf was €141 million in fiscal 2022, over 12 months.
Potential buyers must put forward their bid by July 2, 2025. A hearing has also been scheduled on July 23, while a six-month monitoring period for Naf Naf is ongoing. Will the chain, which was set up by the Pariente brothers in 1973, attract international interest? In the case of another French womenswear chain, Jennyfer, which went into liquidation in April, potential buyers opted to bid for only a small part of the store fleet (involving approximately 30% of the workforce).
Naf Naf's current owners have indicated to the company's employee representatives and the court that they are keen to implement a business continuity plan. Migiboy Tekstil, which kept 90% of the employees when it acquired Naf Naf last year, is the chain's fourth owner in less than a decade. Previously, Naf Naf was the property of French group Vivarte, which sold it to Chinese group La Chapelle in 2018. After filing for receivership in 2020, Naf Naf was then bought by Franco-Turkish group SY International, but had to file for receivership again in 2023.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
Kevin Durant buys minority stake in PSG, eyes global expansion with Qatari owners
NBA star Kevin Durant has purchased a minority stake in Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain, the French soccer club said Friday, June 20. Qatar Sports Investments, PSG's majority shareholder, signed an investment and strategic partnership agreement with Durant, the club said in a statement. Financial terms were not disclosed. The announcement comes amid talks between the NBA, FIBA and other entities about the potential of adding a new league in Europe. Durant will provide expertise on the PSG's multi-port strategy, including potential expansion into basketball, the club said. "Under the terms of the partnership, Durant – via his media and investment company Boardroom, co-founded with long-time business partner Rich Kleiman – will acquire a direct minority stake in the club," PSG's statement said. The Phoenix Suns forward is a two-time NBA champion and became the first four-time men's gold medalist in Olympic basketball history when the US took gold at last summer's Paris Games . "It is an honor to partner with QSI and be a shareholder in Paris Saint-Germain – a club and city that is deeply close to my heart," the 36-year-old Durant said in comments provided by PSG. "This club has big plans and I look forward to being part of the next phase of growth and exploring new investment opportunities with QSI." As part of the deal, Boardroom Sports Holdings – Durant's personal investment vehicle, which holds stakes in a number of major sports teams and leagues – and QSI will join forces on a wide range of commercial, investment and content production initiatives. PSG added that Durant will support the club's diversification and growth strategy, as well as the club's development in the US and other international markets. "Together with Kevin, we look forward to developing ambitious initiatives that will drive the continued global growth of Paris Saint-Germain and QSI," PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi said.
Local France
3 hours ago
- Local France
Big-name porn sites back online in France after age check row
France has gradually introduced requirements this year for all adult websites to have users confirm their age with details such as a credit card or ID document. The aim is to prevent minors from accessing pornography. But the Paris administrative tribunal on Monday suspended a government decree while investigating whether it was compatible with EU legislation. The French government has shared its intention to appeal to the Council of State, the country's highest administrative court. Advertisement The three platforms' owner, Aylo, said the decree's suspension was an "opportunity to reconsider more efficient approaches" to age verification. Aylo, based in Cyprus, had made its websites unavailable in France in early June as a protest against the French decree. Failure to comply could have lead to sanctions including fines or the blocking of the websites. Aylo argued that this was an ineffective mechanism that exposed people's data to bad actors, hacks or leaks. "Requiring you to repeatedly provide sensitive personal information creates an unacceptable security risk that we refuse to impose on our users," the company said in a message displayed on the sites' homepages earlier this month. About 40 percent of children in France access to porn sites every month, according to a 2024 study by France's Arcom audiovisual watchdog. In a bid to preserve privacy, the government decree also required operators to offer a third-party "double-blind" option that would prevent the platforms from seeing users' identifying information. Aylo, which reports seven million visitors in France daily across its various platforms, has called instead for governments to require makers of operating systems such as Apple, Microsoft and Google to verify users' ages at the level of individual devices. Advertisement The platform also argues that the French law "diverts users to thousands of sites that deliberately circumvent regulations" and fails to moderate videos for issues such as the age and consent of performers. Other countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany also enforce age-related access restrictions to adult websites.
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Sahel juntas pile pressure on foreign mining firms
Niger's nationalisation of the local branch of French uranium giant Orano on Thursday is the latest such measure by the junta and its allies in Burkina Faso and Mali. In particular the coup-hit trio, which have all turned their backs on their shared former colonial master France in favour of stronger ties with Russia, have placed Western firms firmly in their sights. - Tug-of-war - Niger's nationalisation of Orano's local branch Somair has brought a months-long struggle with the French firm to a peak. Orano, which is 90-percent owned by the French state, had already admitted to having lost operational control of its subsidiary months ago. Meanwhile in Mali, Canadian giant Barrick Mining is locked in a tug-of-war with the army over a mining code that came into force in 2023. The military is demanding hundreds of millions of dollars of back taxes from the firm. Barrick has since lost control of Loulo-Gounkoto, the country's largest gold mine, in which the Canadian firm holds a majority stake. In November 2024, Malian soldiers arrested the director of Australia's Resolute Mining, along with two employees. All were subsequently released after Resolute agreed to pay the junta $160 million in exchange. Other mine companies such as Canada's allied Gold, B2Gold and Robex had previously agreed to review their activities and pay to settle their tax or customs dispute. And in 2023 Burkina Faso seized 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of gold produced by a branch of Canada's Endeavour Mining on "public necessity" grounds. End of resource sell-out For the juntas, the point of the push against foreign mining companies is to reestablish sovereignty and control over their national resources. Where they believed the Sahel's resource riches were previously sold out to foreigners, and to the West in particular, today the army leaders promise their people that ordinary citizen will receive a greater share of the profits from the wealth under their feet. Niger produces nearly five percent of the world's uranium. Gold makes up a quarter of Mali's national budget. And Burkina Faso's gold production contributes around 14 percent of the country's revenues, according to official statistics. "The population sees this as a push to free states which were previously, according to the new authorities, subservient to Westerners and therefore foreign interests," said Jeremie Taieb, director of consulting firm Tikva Partners. This rejection therefore "helps to satisfy public opinion and nurtures a narrative that allows those in power to keep it", Taieb added. All three countries are plagued by jihadist violence, which has claimed thousands of lives across the region. Besides economic sanctions imposed on the juntas in the wake of the coups, "the pressures exerted to fund the fight against terrorism" provide as good a reason as any "to extract more income from the sector", said Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Control Risks. International arbitration attempts To fight back against the juntas, the mining industry has looked to international arbitration. Barrick has turned to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), part of the Washington-based World Bank. France's Orano has launched various lawsuits against the state of Niger, accusing the junta of a "systematic policy of stripping mining assets". In a statement Friday evening, the day after Niger announced its intention to nationalise its subsidiary, the firm said it "intends to claim compensation for all of its damages and assert its rights over the stock corresponding to Somair's production to date". - Russians, Chinese gain upper hand - For Taieb, this "legal instability" in the Sahel could drive investors towards countries with a more reliable business backdrop. But for Control Risks' Ochieng, "foreign firms will probably continue to engage with administrations in the Sahel... as mining assets represent a hefty and long-term investment". In any case the countries that stand to gain most from the current climate are Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso's so-called "security partners" -- especially Turkey, China and Russia. On Monday, Mali and Russia began construction work on a new gold refinery in the Malian capital Bamako. Moscow has also sent mercenaries from its paramilitary Africa Corps to the Sahel country to help fight jihadists. For the Russians, the deal is "minerals for weapons, in the same way that for the Chinese, it's minerals for infrastructure", said Taieb.
