Virgin Megastore France, hit by a collapse in CD and DVD sales, is set to file for bankruptcy, threatening 1000 jobs across 26 Virgin-branded stores in France.
Union sources said on Tuesday that company officials would lodge a formal request with a Paris commercial court on Wednesday, which will then decide whether the company should be sold, liquidated, or put into administration.
The decision came at the end of two days of talks between management and unions, who had also protested the group's threatened closure to France's Culture Minister.
Virgin France is currently owned by private equity firm Butler Capital Partners, which bought a majority stake in 2007 from French media-to-aerospace group Lagardere which had bought the chain from billionaire founder Richard Branson in 2001.
Unions are expected to protest outside the company's flagship store on Wednesday.
