Molex ends talks on restarting French plant

Lisle-based Molex Inc., a global electronic components company, announced that discussions have ended with a private equity firm identified by the French government regarding the potential reindustrialization of Molex's manufacturing facility at Villemur-sur-Tarn, France.

Molex said it's disturbed by misrepresentations regarding the reindustrialization efforts. The French government has said that it fully supports all reindustrialization efforts for the site, but has been unable to find a suitable buyer for the operations and did not offer any financial guarantees, according to a Molex release.

In this case, the potential buyer expected Molex to fund a social plan for the employees, pay for all operating losses for the foreseeable future, provide a long-term supply agreement and sell the business for a nominal amount. This is not a business plan that would provide any kind of a future for the Villemur employees.

In particular, Molex expressed concern that the private equity firm did not appear to have a business plan for the Villemur plant and its employees, and was unwilling to make the necessary capital investments to ensure the site would operate independently from Molex in the future. In the recent months, Molex has been clear that it can no longer adequately conduct business at the Villemur site.

"We believe that the submitted proposal was not in the best interest the employees or Molex at Villemur-sur-Tarn," said Martin Slark, vice chairman and chief executive officer, Molex Incorporated. "The prospective buyer did not have a credible plan for making this a viable operating business that would enable long-term employment. Furthermore, we believe it is in the employees' best interest to engage in dialogue through the mediation process so that we can work together on a social plan in a timely manner."

Over the past 10 months, Molex has conducted several discussions regarding the reindustrialization of the Villemur site, but has not yet received any viable proposals.

Molex is surprised that the French government has threatened a boycott. Since making the business decision to close Villemur-sur-Tarn, the company's first priority has been a social plan for employees. A boycott of Molex products would endanger that plan and undermine the mediation process that both Molex and the French government have agreed is in the best interest of the employees.