Discussions are underway between the Canadian group 5N Plus and the Chinese group Vital Materials for a potential takeover of the Tilly site (Villers-la-Ville), Walloon Employment Minister Willy Borsus confirmed to Parliament on Tuesday.
An agreement in principle was signed to set the framework for the discussions, and representatives of the Chinese group visited the site as part of "due diligence", that is to say the exchange of information necessary to consider taking over the industrial site.
The Region is not in charge of these contacts, said Minister Borsus. Representatives of Vitals Materials have directly contacted the 5N Plus group in Montreal to express their interest in the Tilly site, a plant that produces lead nitrate, cobalt nitrate and bismuth nitrate in particular. But Sogepa remains available, if the discussions materialize, to support a recovery plan, indicated the Walloon minister.
Both parties obviously want to move quickly. The Chinese group has already expressed its wish to meet the Region to present its project, and possibly discuss the investments to be made.
At this stage, Minister Borsus, like the Walloon Brabant deputies who had questioned him on the subject, Dimitri Legasse (PS), Olivier Maroy (MR) and Andr Antoine (Les Engags) remain cautious. It is too early to know, in the event that the hoped-for recovery materializes, what will be its magnitude and its consequences for the 68 workers at the Tilly site.
On May 18, the Canadian group 5N Plus announced its intention to stop all production on the site, which it intended to close completely, considering that the investments needed to bring the factory into compliance were too great. This announcement had triggered a Renault procedure, the first phase of which was suspended following the announcement of this hope of recovery by Vitals Materials, which is active in the same sector as that of the Tilly plant.