PARIS (Reuters) – The board of directors of Casino decided on Monday to continue negotiations on the equity contribution offer made by the Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky, said in a press release the Saint-Etienne distributor, confirming information reported earlier by Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter.

This decision comes the day after the announcement of the withdrawal of 3F Holding, bringing together businessmen Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Moez-Alexandre Zouari, which was until then in competition with the offer made by Daniel Kretinsky but denounced a “biased” process.

Suspended on Monday, the listing of Casino shares and other listed securities issued by the company will resume on Tuesday morning, the group confirmed in the press release.

Daniel Kretinsky, associated with Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, said in an interview with Les Echos that he had sent a revised takeover offer over the weekend, providing for 1.2 billion euros in fresh money.

Casino, whose total debt reaches 6.4 billion euros, has set itself the goal of raising at least 900 million euros in new equity.

However, this is only one step in the vast restructuring plan of the Saint-Etienne distributor, which launched official negotiations with its creditors at the end of May as part of a conciliation procedure before the courts intended to restructure its debt.

Casino management and court-appointed mediators have set July 27 as the deadline to reach an agreement in principle on the terms of the financial restructuring.

In the press release released Monday evening, Casino indicates that negotiations with EP Global Commerce, Fimalac and Attestor aim to reach an “agreement in principle” on the restructuring of the distributor’s financial debt by the end of the month.

(Written by Jean Terzian, with Mathieu Rosemain)

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