France’s Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand said on Wednesday that “this week” the government has proposed some “solutions” to secure the future of Le Coq Sportif’s employees, after the sportswear brand was placed into receivership at the end of November due to heavy financial losses.

The public authorities share the “distress” and “concern” of Le Coq Sportif’s 410 employees (350 of them based in France), and have put forward “a number of solutions to the parties involved, within the collective insolvency proceedings’ framework,” said Armand during the government question time session in the French National Assembly, trying to head off a censure motion.

At the end of November, Airesis, the parent company of Le Coq Sportif, announced that the sportswear brand had been placed in receivership by the Paris trade court, only a few months after outfitting the French delegation at the Paris Olympics.

“Despite the Olympic Games, Le Coq Sportif did not benefit from extra demand that could have solved its difficulties,” said Armand, answering a question from Angélique Ranc, MP for the Rassemblement National party in the seat of Aube, home to Le Coq Sportif since 1882.

Armand underlined that the government has been providing “continued support” since Le Coq Sportif, a leading sportswear name in France, began to experience financial difficulties, via a state-guaranteed loan of €10 million in 2023, followed by a grant of €12.5 million from the country’s Economic and Social Development Fund.

However, according to Le Coq Sportif’s H1 financial results, published at the end of September, the company recorded a loss of €18.2 million in the period, compared to a loss of €10.5 million in H1 2023, and a €28.2 million loss for the whole of last year.

Le Coq Sportif is also embroiled in a dispute with the French Rugby Federation, which is claiming €5.3 million of arrears from its former kit supplier.

“Le Coq Sportif’s disappearance would lead to massive job losses, and seriously weaken the local business ecosystem,” something that “would mean another blow for a region already hard hit by de-industrialisation,” Ranc warned.