French group Bourbon, a leading player in the field of maritime services and engineering support for the offshore oil and gas extraction industry which employs more than 8,000 people worldwide, is facing dire straits. Weighed down by heavy debts, its holding company was this month placed into receivership, while the group and members of its senior management have been sent for trial on charges of corrupting tax officials in Africa. Meanwhile, French junior minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who until joining government last October sat on the Bourbon board and presided over its audit committee, denies any responsibility in the group’s current woes. Antton Rouget reports.
A menacing storm is closing in on Bourbon, a French group specialised in providing maritime services and engineering support for the offshore oil and gas extraction industry, one of France’s biggest employers in maritime activities with more than 8,000 people on its payroll across 47 countries.
