2023-07-04 20:17:00
The entrance to a Casino store in Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, near Lyon, taken on July 3, 2023 (AFP / JEFF PACHOUD)
Their intentions were known, but they are now officially candidates and alone on the track: the billionaire duo Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, on the one hand, the trio Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Moez-Alexandre Zouari, on the other. , are candidates for the takeover of the distributor Casino, which is in great financial difficulty.
The two proposals were studied Tuesday by the board of directors of Casino, at the end of which the group communicated in the evening of the details quantified on each of them. They will be considered by the distributor’s creditors on Wednesday.
“No decision relating to these proposals will be taken” before discussions with the creditors, assures Casino, which employs 200,000 employees worldwide, including a quarter in France, under well-known brands such as Franprix, Monoprix or Pao de Açucar in Brazil.
Trading in the distributor’s stock had been suspended at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday “at the request of the company, pending the issuance of a press release and until further notice,” according to a notice from the Euronext stock exchange operator. The price appreciated a few minutes earlier by more than 18%.
– Battle of numbers –
The Niel-Pigasse-Zouari trio had indicated Tuesday morning in a separate press release that it planned to invest “with its financial partners” 900 million euros in the Casino group. This contribution will be half in the form of equity and, for the other half, a debt issue, said Casino Tuesday evening in its press release.
With a “long-term industrial and social project”, this proposal “benefits from the support of a large group of creditors” from Casino, had assured the trio, whose offer provides for the “maintenance of the level of jobs” current in within the group, reported the distributor on Tuesday evening.
Moez-Alexandre Zouari, a major franchisee of the Casino group in Ile-de-France and a member of this trio, is called upon to take over the management of the distributor from Saint-Etienne if this offer is approved.
Opposite, the duo of billionaires Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière made a firm offer providing for a recapitalization of up to 1.35 billion euros, according to the details communicated Tuesday evening by Casino, via a capital increase of which at least 860 million euros contributed by the two partners.
The Czech billionaire and Mr. Ladreit de Lacharrière, friend of Casino CEO Jean-Charles Naouri, are also counting on a restructuring of Casino’s gross debt to the tune of 5 billion euros. They do not plan to sell the hypermarkets or the online retailer CDiscount, AFP learned on Tuesday from the entourage of the two signatories of the offer.
However, on Tuesday evening, Casino said their offer made “no explicit mention of the level of job retention”.
– Target end of July –
These equity contribution offers are part of the conciliation procedure initiated at the end of May by the group, which is in great financial difficulty. Casino is trying to renegotiate its large debt – 6.4 billion euros in net debt – but also needs equity to revive its activity.
Casino had previously indicated that it hoped “to finalize an agreement in principle on the terms of the financial restructuring by July 27”. It will still be necessary for the group’s creditors, large banks, funds, institutions, to accept it.
Monday, Casino had announced that some of them were not willing to make a gift to the group. While they had been asked not to claim the payment of the sums due during the time of the conciliation, which can last until the end of October at the latest, some refused, forcing Casino to ask the courts for “time limits for grace”.
The distributor also failed to meet, at the end of the second quarter, an obligation set by its creditors, which can be considered as a payment default. These lenders were asked not to claim their due from Casino during the conciliation, but had “not responded to the request” as of Monday, according to Casino.
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