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Debt-laden retailer Casino takes step to start talks with creditors - sources
14:18 24/05/2023
By Dominique Vidalon
PARIS, May 24 (Reuters) - French retailer Casino is looking to start official negotiations with itscreditors as it seeks a way out of its financial woes whileweighing two tie-up bids from wealthy investors, two sourcesclose to the matter said on Wednesday.
Casino, headed and controlled by veteran entrepreneurJean-Charles Naouri and owner of the Franprix and Monoprixchains, has been plagued for years by hefty debt, decliningrevenues and loss of market share in an increasingly competitivedomestic market.
The group, which employs 208,000 people worldwide and is France's sixth biggest food retailer by market share, has beenselling assets to try to fix its finances, strained by debttaken on as a result of acquisitions. It had consolidated netdebt of 6.4 billion euros at the end of last year.
It faces 3 billion euros of debt repayments in the next twoyears, and the holding company through which Naouri controls itis also heavily indebted.
Casino has requested the opening of a conciliation procedure, one of the sources said on Wednesday, meaning it islooking to start talks with creditors, which include majorFrench banks BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole as well asinternational hedge funds, under court supervision.
The creditors had until 1500 GMT on Tuesday to give theirconsent to begin the process, which would then be launched officially by a French court that would also say how long thetalks would last and appoint officials to oversee them.
Marc Senechal, a French lawyer, and Aurelia Perdereau, acourt administrator, are seen as potential mediators to overseethe talks, the sources said.
The process is designed to reach an agreement on Casino'sdebt but also on how two proposed tie-up offers for the group -one from billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and the other from smallerretailer Teract - could affect the situation.
Kretinsky, Casino's second-biggest shareholder, has offeredto take control of Casino through a 1.1 billion-euro capitalincrease. He has made his offer subject to a "substantial"reduction in gross unsecured debt through buybacks andconversion into equity of Casino bonds.
Earlier this month, Standard & Poor's cut its rating onCasino, adding further pressure on the company, whose shares aredown by over 30% so far in 2023, having fallen 58% in 2022.
"We believe the consent solicitation process, combined withthe group's weak operating performance, fragile liquidityposition and unsustainable capital structure make a default,distressed exchange or redemption appear inevitable within sixmonths," it said.
Casino shares were suspended on May 23, pending the releaseof a statement. They closed at 6.76 euros on May 22.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Silvia Aloisi andConor Humphries)
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dominique.vidalon@thomsonreuters.com; +33149495432; ReutersMessaging:
dominique.vidalon.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: CASINO DEBT/
