Auto: French equipment manufacturer GMD acquired by a Chinese group

French automotive supplier GMD (Groupe Mécanique Découpage) has been acquired by a Chinese group that plans to retain all of the group's factories and jobs, including the iconic LSI (formerly GM&S) plant in La Souterraine (Creuse), management and unions have announced.

"I have signed an agreement with the DSBJ group for the acquisition of 100% of the capital of GMD," wrote Alain Martineau, president of the group, in a press release dated May 16 addressed to employees.

"The completion of this transaction is expected in the coming months, after obtaining regulatory authorizations," the manager continued, also assuring that "concrete commitments have been obtained regarding the maintenance of activity and employment for periods of up to 24 months."

DSBJ Group (Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co) is a Chinese manufacturer specializing in high-precision electronic components (printed circuits) and automobiles.

Montyon Capital, a structure created by Otium Capital - an investment fund owned by the French conservative billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin - was also in the running, before abruptly withdrawing its offer.

Weighed down by its debts, the GMD group is one of the largest French automotive suppliers with 6,648 employees worldwide, at 14 sites (including around 1,800 in France), and a turnover of more than one billion euros in 2024.

GMD manufactures large aluminum parts and plastic trim parts for vehicle interiors, for Stellantis, Renault and Porsche.

In 2018, the group took over the GM&S factory, which became LSI, in La Souterraine, which changed "11 buyers" according to Patrick Brun, of the CGT and secretary of the CSE, going from 600 employees at the beginning of the 1960s to 80 in 2025.

The mobilization of the Creuse site against a redundancy plan marked the beginning of Emmanuel Macron's first term, when desperate employees threatened to "blow up" their factory.

"We have serious doubts. We would be surprised if they brought printed circuit boards back to La Souterraine," the union representative pointed out.

"They haven't assigned us the new contract for 10 years. We're on technical unemployment on Fridays, but we've managed to hold on. We now hope that the state has taken the necessary measures to ensure job guarantees," the union representative worried.

"The average age is 58. If the company closes, it's a disaster. We have nothing left to lose, we're not going to threaten anything anymore, it's going to explode," he added.