Caterpillar has informed the Belgian authorities of its decision to proceed to a ‘collective dismissal’ that will lead to the closure of its Gosselies site, affecting about 2,000 employees.

On 2 September last year, the company announced that it was contemplating moving production from Gosselies to other manufacturing facilities, and an ‘information and consultation’ procedure — in compliance with Belgian law — was opened shortly after that announcement.

With the formal decision to close, production on the Gosselies site will be gradually phased out, and it will end by the middle of the year.

The other operations and functions on the Gosselies site are expected to be gradually phased out by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Caterpillar and the Region of Wallonia (the French-speaking region of southern Belgium) have reached a ‘balanced agreement in principle’ concerning the sale of the Gosselies site to the investment company Sogepa.

In order to support the conversion of the site, Caterpillar agreed to sell it — plus some of the installations and assets — for a symbolic euro.