Casino's preliminary talks with Teract to combine their French retail activities perplexes some analysts, who say a deal wouldn't address the supermarket group's urgent need to slash debt. Casino, controlled by 73-year-old Jean-Charles Naouri, faces a wall of debt, starting with about 1.3 billion euros ($1.42 billion) of secured and unsecured bonds due next year for French activities, according to credit rating firm S&P. It recently cut its rating for Casino, highlighting the company's need "to fix the current cash burn." Naouri has pledged to sell 4.5 billion euros' worth of assets at Casino - owner of the Monoprix, Franprix and Naturalia brands - by the end of this year, 90% of which had already been completed by last October.
(Bloomberg) -- Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA and Teract SA, a challenger backed by billionaire Xavier Niel, said they are in talks to combine their French retail operations, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report.Most Read from BloombergMerck Covid Drug Linked to New Virus Mutations, Study SaysAdani Crisis Deepens as Stock Rout Hits $108 BillionPorsche Blunder Puts $148,000 Sportscar on Sale for Just $18,000Plenty of Americans Are Drinking Bleach, Still for Sale on AmazonHong Kong to Give Aw
Casino Group Communication Paris, 01 February 2023 In response to rumours in the press, the Casino group confirms that it has begun exploratory discussions with TERACT that could lead to the combination of the two groups' distribution activities in France within a single entity controlled by Casino, and to the establishment of a newly created entity controlled by TERACT shareholders that would be responsible in particular for the supply of agricultural, local and short-cycle products. Discussion