CNIM in talks to divest Bertin Technologies

France's financially struggling CNIM Group has begun negotiating the sale of instrumentation subsidiary Bertin Technologies to French private equity firm FCDE, CNIM announced on 14 November.

“Depending on the outcome of the negotiations, the relevant employee representative bodies will be consulted, the finalised project will be submitted to the governance bodies, the competent supervisory authorities, and CNIM Group's creditors, and the market will be informed,” CNIM said.

FCDE, whose existing holdings include engineering firm Serma Technologies, declined to comment on its potential acquisition.

Bertin serves several sectors, including defence. Its defence products include systems to detect and identify chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. It also offers wireless surveillance networks consisting of unattended ground sensors.

Bertin, which CNIM has owned since 2008, employs 450 people.

CNIM has sold several assets, including its Paris headquarters, as part of a restructuring aimed at improving its tattered finances. Hurt by both the Covid-19 pandemic and the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, the export-dependent company reported a net loss of EUR130.9 million (USD149 million) on revenue of EUR632.9 million in 2020.