Trio of French businessmen plan counter-offer for Casino
Reuters
Published Jun 08, 2023 12:40PM ET
Updated Jun 08, 2023 12:51PM ET
By Dominique Vidalon and Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS (Reuters) - A trio of French businessmen readied on Thursday to make a new offer for debt-laden supermarket chain Casino after exclusive tie-up talks between Casino and smaller retail rival Teract collapsed.
In a joint statement, telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel, investment banker Matthieu Pigasse and entrepreneur Moez-Alexandre Zouari said they were prepared to invest their funds in Casino to find a lasting solution to the group's financial woes.
This new money would come in the form of a dedicated vehicle, dubbed "3F" (founders, friends & family), that would be invested in a potential share sale of Casino, a source close to the matter said.
Starting with 300 million euros, 3F will seek to raise money from Casino's creditors to bring the sum to a little over one billion euros, the source added.
Casino had a consolidated net debt of 6.4 billion euros at the end of last year. It faces 3 billion euros' worth of debt repayments in the next two years and the holding company through which veteran entrepreneur Jean-Charles Naouri controls the company is also heavily indebted.
Amid mounting concerns about its ability to pay back its debts, Casino had been weighing a tie-up proposal from Teract and a rival one from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
But Teract and Casino said on Thursday they had decided by mutual agreement to end exclusive talks started since March to combine the two group's retail activities in France.
Last month Casino, which owns the Franprix and Monoprix chains, officially started court-backed negotiations with its creditors.
In April, Kretínsky, already Casino's second-largest shareholder, offered to take control of Casino through a 1.1 billion euro ($1.18 billion) capital increase.
Kretinsky's proposal is backed by investor Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, whose Fimalac group is now Casino’s third-largest shareholder.
Casino said on Thursday the end of the discussions with Teract had no impact on a protocol of intent Casino announced last month with French rival Groupement Les Mousquetaires and which entails the sale to Les Mousquetaires of Casino stores in France, representing around 1.05 billion euros in sales.
Get The News You Want
($1 = 0.9316 euros)
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.