What will ultimately be the fate of Orange Bank, the online bank of the telecoms operator Orange? After having unsuccessfully put up for sale this banking subsidiary launched with great fanfare in 2017, Orange announced at the end of June the sale of its customer portfolio to BNP Paribas and its restructuring as part of a liquidation. The neobank, which claims two million customers, has never achieved its objectives and has accumulated more than a billion in operating losses.
But the fate of Orange Bank seems to be in question again. On Wednesday, during an extraordinary CSE, Orange Bank managers announced to staff representatives that the group had received a firm takeover offer from the Ripplewood investment fund. In the spring, he was interested in the file, but did not submit an offer. From now on, he says he is ready to take over the 700 employees of Orange Bank. The management of the online bank indicated during the rather stormy CSE that it was not in favor of this takeover project. “The CSE expects the bank’s Board of Directors to take all the time necessary to study this offer in depth, even if this must involve an extension of the consultation procedure,” write the members of the CSE. In the event that this offer does not provide, at this stage, all the expected guarantees, the CSE asks the general management to engage in loyal and serious negotiations with Ripplewood to obtain guarantees for the sustainability of the activity and jobs.” The elected staff members also wish to meet Ripplewood representatives.
