French retailer Casino finalises rescue deal led by Czech tycoon By Reuters

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<span>© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo of French retailer Casino is pictured outside a Casino supermarket in Nantes, France, May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo</span><br />
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<p>By Dominique Vidalon</p>
<p>PARIS (Reuters) -French supermarket group Casino said on Thursday that it had finalised a deal to avert bankruptcy through a debt restructuring agreed with its main creditors, led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.</p>
<p>Casino was brought to the verge of default after years of debt-fuelled acquisitions and recent losses in market share to rival supermarket operators.</p>
<p>It said the binding debt deal was reached with the consortium led by Kretinsky’s company EPGC alongside Casino’s biggest creditor Attestor, its second-biggest shareholder Fimalac and the retailer’s secured creditors.</p>
<p>“Casino has reached a major milestone in its financial restructuring process by obtaining the agreement of its main creditors on a financial restructuring plan,” Casino CEO and controlling shareholder Jean-Charles Naouri said in a statement.</p>
<p>The deal massively dilutes shareholders and will bring to an end the 30-year reign of 74-year-old Naouri, who controls Casino through his listed holding company Rallye.</p>
<p>The lock-up finalises a July agreement in principle which called for 1.2 billion euros ($1.26 billion) of new money which would be injected into Casino, as well as a reduction of Casino’s debt by 6.1 billion euros.</p>
<p>Naouri said the binding agreement “creates a favourable framework for the sustainability of the group’s activities, the continuation of jobs and head offices, and the continued development of all its brands”.</p>
<p>Casino’s shares, which have lost 88% of their value so far this year and were suspended on Wednesday, were expected to resume on Thursday.</p>
<p>The retailer, which is now France’s sixth-largest supermarket group, said it planned to pursue discussions with the financial creditors not yet party to the lock-up agreement to get them to sign up to it too.</p>
<p>Casino reiterated it had until Oct 25 to obtain from a commercial court the start of an accelerated safeguard procedure under which it could approve the plan with the support of secured creditors and compel reluctant creditors to follow.</p>
<p>($1 = 0.9513 euros) </p>
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<br /><a href="https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/retailer-casino-seals-lockup-on-debt-rescue-deal-led-by-czech-billionaire-kretinsky-3190842">Source link </a></p><p>The post <a href="https://forextraderhub.com/french-retailer-casino-finalises-rescue-deal-led-by-czech-tycoon-by-reuters.html">French retailer Casino finalises rescue deal led by Czech tycoon By Reuters</a> first appeared on <a href="https://forextraderhub.com">Forex Trader Hub</a>.</p>