2024-03-20 11:59:00
[Article publié le mercredi 20 mars à 12h26, mis à jour à 13h] Orpea wants a makeover. The group of private nursing homes has adopted a new name, Emeis, for “ mark a new stage in its rebuilding », two years after the scandal of the practices of its former management, its general director Laurent Guillot announced this Wednesday.
It has been several months since new management has been responsible for leading a transformation plan for the group. She notably promised to make teams her “ first priority » in order to strengthen the quality of care for residents and “ restore confidence » in the group of private nursing homes.
The resident abuse scandal
Published in January 2022, the investigative book by journalist Victor Castanet The Gravediggers, denounced mistreatment of residents, failings in staff management and abusive use of public funds within Orpea establishments. At the end of last April, the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the group suspected of institutional mistreatment and embezzlement of public funds. Former leaders are also the subject of legal proceedings.
Above all, since January 2023, the French number one retirement home has lost more than 95% of its value on the stock market, forcing it in particular to call for help from the Caisse des Dépôts and to organize a restructuring process. A restructuring announced as completed by the group in February, after the completion of its third capital increase.
A restructuring by capital increase
In an attempt to turn the tide and reduce the most speculative part of the group’s debt, which amounts to a total of 9 billion euros, Orpea announced on November 13 the launch of a capital increase ” approximately 3.9 billion euros » through an issue of new shares and with the aim of erasing “ the entirety of the unsecured debt “. Following the capital increase, the company will carry out a share consolidation from February 20, 2024 to March 21, 2024.
Already in March 2023 as part of the restructuring, Orpea announced that it would benefit from additional financing of 600 million euros via a secure syndicated loan, still as part of its financial restructuring. This sum was recorded in an agreement in principle concluded with “lenders including the main banking partners”which the company had already resorted to in June 2022 as part of a conciliation protocol.
Medicharme, competitor of Orpea, in liquidation
If Orpea seems to be emerging from the crisis, this is not the case for everyone. The private nursing home group Medicharme was placed in compulsory liquidation on February 29, a first for a company in this sector in crisis. The Nanterre commercial court ordered liquidation with continued activity until April 15. This procedure should allow Medicharme to find buyers for its 43 establishments.
Owned by the English investment fund G-Square and not listed on the stock exchange, Medicharme faces a degraded financial situation due to the low occupancy rate of its establishments, in a context of rising costs and deterioration of reputation following the Orpea scandal. A situation which affects many accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad), whether public, associative or private.
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