‘Habemus agree’ of salvation. Daniel Kretinsky at the head of the company and the sale of assets in Latin America, where three quarters of its employees are. Haunted by a debt of 6.4 billion euros, the company, owner of some of the most popular chains in France and Latin America, needed the entry of a new shareholder who, along with other partners, will inject 1.2 billion euros.
That, together with the conversion of part of the debt into shares, will dilute the weight of the current owners and allow the new owners – in addition to Kretinsky, the French billionaire Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière and the British investment fund Attestor – to control 56%. of the conglomerate Kretinsky’s plan, which requires several phases of approval that will delay its application to the first quarter of 2024, aims to keep current supermarkets without closures and jobs.
Casino has 200,000 workers, 50,000 of them in France and the rest in Latin America, whose more profitable banners are in the process of being sold. The French conglomerate is present above all in Brazil (GPA) and Colombia (Éxito), as well as in Argentina (Libertad) and Uruguay (Devoto Hermanos and Grupo Disco), according to Efe.
Backing from the French authorities
The rescue plan has the support of the French authorities and the main creditors, but not the smaller ones, who feel harmed by the loss of part of the debt contracted. In fact, they have announced appeals before the Justice. Once the debt burden has been lightened, the new owners intend to relaunch the brands, which have very good store locations in France, especially in Paris and on the Côte d’Azur.
Casino announced this Thursday losses of 2,230 million euros in the first six months of the year, due to the failure of its price reduction policy that has not resulted in an increase in sales. This Friday indicates that it is revising its forecasts for the whole year downwards, and halves its target operating profit, to 214 million euros.
Its liquidity will be 595 million and not 2,100 million as expected until now. Half of that money will be used to pay debts with the state and pending social security contributions. The unions of the group maintain their concern about the situation of the company despite this agreement.
The Casino share, whose listing was suspended this Thursday on the Paris Stock Exchange pending a commitment with creditors and new investors, returned to the stock market with falls of up to 20%, which moderated somewhat throughout the working day.
