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Groupe Dubreuil
French group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Groupe Dubreuil is a diversified family holding company, including Air Caraïbes and French Bee.
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The Groupe Dubreuil, initially wholesaler of grocery stores and fuel distribution, was founded in 1924 by Henri Dubreuil in La Roche-sur-Yon.[1] After 1950, the company developed "a network of rural gas stations".[1] In 1961, the company partnered with Spar (a food wholesaler).[2]
In 1966, Henri Dubreuil died of a heart attack and his 24-year-old son, Jean-Paul Dubreuil, succeeded him.[1]
In 1973, two years after merging two Spar wholesalers to create Oedis, the company partnered with the wholesaler Disco (Oedisco). In 1974, Jean-Paul Dubreuil opened his first Bravo supermarket (now Hyper U), in a warehouse owned by his father-in-law.[1][2]
An aviator, Jean-Paul Dubreuil, who earned his pilot's license at age 17,[3] established a small taxi company, Air Vendée[4] in 1975. This allowed him to manage the Disco wholesaler, whose sites are distributed throughout France.[1][5]
At the same time, the group opened its first brick-and-mortar store, Bricogite, in 1980 and its first Peugeot car dealership in 1987. In 1985, the resale of supermarkets allowed the group to continue to develop in aviation.[4]
Air Vendée went bankrupt and partnered with other small local airlines (Airlec, etc.) to establish Regional Airlines in 1992.[1][4] It connected provincial cities to larger European cities.[1][4]
In 1996, Regional Airlines became publicly traded. The transfer of 10.96% of its capital allowed the company to raise 33 million francs.[1]
In 1998, the company bought Air Caribbean to reduce the taxes of the Dubreuil Group, followed by the acquisitions of Air Martinique, Air Guadeloupe, Air Saint-Martin and Air Saint-Barthely.[1]
In 2000, the group transferred its stake in Regional Airlines (70%) to Air France for EUR 42.7 million.[6][7]
At the end of 2003, following the collapse of Air Lib, another airline, the group purchased a long-haul aircraft for its subsidiary Air Caribbean for EUR 150 million to connect Paris-Orly with the Caribbean. It offered routes 15% cheaper than Air France.[8] Seven years later, it held a 27% market share.[8]
In 2008, the company sold its oil trading subsidiary to invest in photovoltaic energy.[9][10]
In 2015, the group tried to buy its competitor, Corsair, but ultimately abandoned the effort.
The following year, Dubreuil Group established a low-cost long-haul airline, first named French blue, then French Bee.
In 2020, following the outbreak of COVID-19, the CMA CGM group was expected to take up 30% of the capital of Air Caribbean and French Bee, contingent on a capital increase of EUR 50 million. The following year, the agreement was not reached.[11] The Dubreuil Group secured a state-guaranteed loan (EMP) of EUR 150 million.[12] At the end of December 2021, the two airline subsidiaries of the Group Dubreuil were recapitalized by the group itself with EUR 15 million each.[12]
At the end of June 2023, the Dubreuil group announced the departure of Jean-Paul Dubreuil and Marc Rochet, the duo who had led the group for 20 years. Jean-Paul Dubreuil, President of Groupe Dubreuil Aéro (GDA), passed the position to his son, Paul-Henri Dubreuil, currently CEO of the family group Dubreuil. Christine Ourmières-Widener took over the position of Chief Executive Officer of Air Caribbean, Air Caribbean Atlantic, Frenchbee and Heline Cargo from Marc Rochet.[13]
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