French investment company Financiere de la Croix-Blanche confirmed on 12 July 2006 the conditions of its offer for Verrerie du Languedoc (VDL), the glass bottle manufacturer at Vergeze in SE France put up for sale by Swiss food giant Nestle. Nestle Waters France is bottling a growing proportion of its products, including the world famous Perrier, in plastic bottles. It has been seeking a buyer for VDL since 1997. Financiere de la Croix-Blanche intends to make 300 of the 470-strong workforce at the Vergeze site redundant, mostly through early retirement & to reduce the salaries of the remaining employees by 18%. At present, VDL produces 600M glass bottles/pa for clients such as Perrier & Italy's Pellegrino. The bidder assured unions at the factory on 12 July 2006 that it has signed a contract with Perrier for glass bottles until 2014.
