A ball of suitors surrounds the casino group, crushed by the weight of its debt

What will Groupe Casino look like one year from now? Who owns the French brands Géant, Monoprix, Franprix, Cdiscount, Naturalia or the Brazilian Assai? No one knows. Not Jean-Charles Nauri. The thirty-year-old empire built by a Paris-based modernizer with 208,000 employees is reeling under the weight of unsustainable debt amid a consumer crisis.

After trying to sell assets, Mr Naur has no choice but to restructure part of the €6.4bn debt and urgently find new money to avoid the collapse of the whole building. On April 24, the distributor asked the creditors to agree to start the reconciliation procedure. The consultation, which was originally scheduled to run until May 19, was extended to Tuesday May 23. “The final decision to request the opening of the conciliation procedure remains subject to the approval of the casino’s board of directors.”insisted the group in a press release.

The suppression of unsecured debt, after claims are redeemed or converted into equity, is a condition set by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretynsky (an indirect US shareholder. the world), a candidate to take over the distributor. The shareholder of Fnac Darty and German Metro, through his companies EP Global Commerce and Vesa Equity Investment, offered Mr. Naur to invest 750 million euros in the group.

Vertical integration project

He is allied with Marc Ladreit de Lacharière, the founder of Fimalac, a historical closeness of Mr Nauri, who in turn could inject 150 million euros. “In order to avoid the risk of conflict of interest (…)Fimalac today announced his decision to step down as a director, effective immediately.Reported by the distributor on Friday, May 19.

The tandem comes after negotiations were underway to marry Casino in France with Teract, a listed company controlled by grain cooperative InVivo and led by Moez-Alexandre Zouari, one of the main franchisees of Franprix and Monoprix, linked to Xaviel Niel with the founder. Iliad and investment banker Matthieu Pigasse (the latter is a personal shareholder of the two companies. the world). This project has received the support of Intermarché, which has announced that it is ready to buy the stores from the casino and contribute 300 million euros of capital together with Invivo.

However, each other’s proposals are far from established. If Mr. Kretinski’s delay in the game initially irritated the terror camp, now is the time to find common ground. “We are delighted that Daniel Kretinsky is coming forward”Welcomed Mr. Zuar in several media interviews published on Sunday, May 14, inviting the Czech businessman to join his farm-to-fork vertical integration project. “everyone talks to everyone”, sums up the investment banker. The wish ball is now starting and others can invite themselves.