The distributor from Saint-Etienne Casino has formalized its entry into a conciliation procedure following a decision of the president of the Paris commercial court dated May 25, according to a press release this Friday, May 26, announcing the resumption of the listing of the security on the stock exchange.
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This amicable procedure is decided for a period of four months. possibly extendable for one month “. It should allow the company, indebted to the tune of 6.4 billion euros at the end of 2022, including 4.5 on its activity in France, to conclude an agreement with its creditors with a view to a potential restructuring of its debt. .
“ The President of the Commercial Court of Paris has decided to open a conciliation procedure on May 25, 2023 “for the benefit of Casino and its subsidiaries, including Monoprix and Franprix,” for an initial period of four months, possibly extendable by one month “, indicates the group in the press release. Casino specifies that this procedure “ concerns only the financial debt of the company » and certain subsidiaries and « will have no impact on the group’s relations with its operational partners [en particulier ses fournisseurs] and the employees “.
This announcement had been expected since Casino on Tuesday requested the suspension of the listing of its shares “ pending the publication of a press release and until further notice “, while the rating agencies have downgraded the rating of its debt in recent weeks in anticipation of a restructuring. Casino, which employs more than 50,000 people in France and 200,000 worldwide under many brands, has been struggling for years to get out of debt, so far without success.
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Stores sold to Intermarché
The group, powerful in Ile-de-France, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and in Rhône-Alpes, nevertheless arouses envy, on the part of the billionaire Daniel Kretinsky as well as the distribution group Teract, whose majority shareholder is the agrifood giant InVivo.
At the end of April, the third supermarket chain in France, Intermarché, joined the discussions supposed to be completed by the end of May. In parallel with the opening of the entry into conciliation, Casino announced on Friday an agreement with the third French distributor for the sale of more than a hundred points of sale “ from the Casino France scope », comprising hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores, with a turnover of just over one billion euros. The first transfers will take place by the end of this year “says Casino.
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(With AFP)
