They “will lose their investment”: the 7 million euros collected for Duralex from individuals will not be reimbursed

Bad news for individuals who have bet on the recovery of Duralex. The 7 million euros invested by 10,523 people in tricolor glassware at the end of 2025 will not be reimbursed, the crowdfunding platform Lita told AFP on Thursday.

Taken over on Wednesday by entrepreneur Cédric Meston, the Duralex glassworks will continue its activity, after being placed in receivership in June, with 155 jobs retained out of some 220. But, "unfortunately, the 10,523 Lita investors will lose their investment" and the 7 million euros collected will "be lost", told AFP Julien Benayoun, co-founder and general manager of Lita, a financial services provider participatory.

The average investment reached 372 euros, with a maximum limit of 1000 euros. The fundraising, launched in November 2025, was intended to help Duralex in its recovery, “a very risky investment”, estimated Julien Benayoun. An annual interest rate of “8% gross” was mentioned for an investment period of seven years. When the procedure was launched, he indicated that repayment after seven years was not guaranteed on either the capital or the interest. “If the company fails to meet its objectives and were to be liquidated, the amounts invested would be lost,” he recalled at the time.

A visit and gifts as compensation

The new buyer of the Duralex glassworks indicated, in a letter to investors consulted by AFP, that he was “sorry” for this situation. The securities were issued by the cooperative, “which remains a separate company from ours. Their fate depends on the collective procedure and the liquidation of the SCOP, under the control of the legal representative, not the buyer. I cannot promise you a refund,” wrote Cédric Meston. The latter offered the individuals concerned to come and spend a day in the historic factory of La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin, near Orléans and to offer them products from the Duralex and Tupperware brands, the two brands worn by Cédric Meston, for an amount proportional to their initial investment.

An investigation was opened by the Orléans public prosecutor's office which did not specify the leaders retained, but specified that “searches” had been carried out, in particular at the Duralex headquarters. The Lita platform reserves the right to file a complaint, said Julien Benayoun. The former general director of the glassworks, François Marciano, emblematic figure of the takeover of the Cooperative and Participatory Society (Scop), as well as his son Antoine whom he had appointed financial director, could in particular be targeted by the procedure. Their lawyer, Me Pierre Lalanne, affirmed that his clients “deny any involvement in possible embezzlement”.