Novillars, France 24 July 2013 -- French containerboard producer Papeterie du Doubs has been taken over and plans to restart production under the new name of Gemdoubs in September.

Papeterie du Doubs may have just found a new lifeline: according to former managing director Gérard Lasserre, there are plans for the French corrugated case material producer to restart production on 2 September. The company was sold with effect from 9 July to Lebanese entrepreneur Fadi Gemayel and has changed its name to Gemdoubs, Mr Lasserre told EUWID. The sales price was not disclosed.

The Commercial Court of Besançon had placed the paper manufacturer in liquidation in May 2012. Production at the mill in Novillars has been standing still since then. The company had fallen into financial dire straits and had no longer been able to operate profitably. To overcome these difficulties, Gemdoubs will focus on improving quality and reducing costs, Mr Lasserre said. The company plans to invest in a better machine for recovered paper preparation. In addition, a new biomass power plant will be installed by 2015 in order to reduce energy costs.

According to Mr Lasserre, Gemdoubs will continue to produce testliner and corrugating medium. The machine at the mill has a capacity of 90,000 tpy. The company has already started recruiting and will initially hire 40-50 people, Mr Laserre said, adding that by the end of the year, the number of employees is planned to be raised to 60.

Shortly after the company was liquidated last year, the Lebanese company was mentioned as a potential takeover candidate. However, the takeover was delayed several times because of financial complications. Mr Lasserre now communicated that the French government and local bodies provided financial support to realise the project in order to promote the creation of jobs.