Salomon on strike, Look wants to buy Rossignol

The Salomon factory at Rumilly is at a standstill for a third day today. The workers are claming an increase of 150 euros per month. Salomon is planning on moving ski production from France to Austria. Meanwhile Dominique Bergin, the head of Look International, a French cycle sport company, is preparing a bid for Rossignol with the idea of keeping production in France.

Salmon’s union representatives are complaining that Amer Sports, which owns Salomon, has treated the Romanian workers more sympathetically. In January the French courts rejected Salomon’s plan to lay off 284 employees.

Dominique Bergin thinks there are synergies between Look and Rossignol. Both companies work with carbon fibre and other hi-tech materials. Rossignol bough the ski binding division of Look in 1994 leaving Look to specialize in cycle sport. Bergin, who used to manage private hospitals, brought Look back from near bankruptcy in the 1990s and aims to build a performance outdoor sports group with international reach. Look employs 180 workers in the factor at Nevers. Bergin has already worked with Quiksilver, Rossignol’s owners, on another project. However with the current financial environment Bergin will partner with a financier and even then the offer will be “competitive” given that Quiksilver is keen to sell. Last year Rossignol’s turnover dropped 22% and the group’s debts have doubled since the purchase of Rossignol in 2005. The sale is being handled by JP Morgan and will start in April 2008.