PARIS (Reuters) – Casino announced on Wednesday that it had reached agreements with Auchan Retail and Groupement Les Mousquetaires, parent company of Intermarché, to sell them its supermarkets and hypermarkets in France.
These agreements provide for the sale of 288 stores (and the service stations attached to the stores), on the basis of an enterprise value of between 1.3 and 1.35 billion euros, Casino said in a press release.
In December, the Saint-Etienne distribution group announced the opening of exclusive negotiations with Auchan Retail and the Groupement Les Mousquetaires to discuss the takeover of its super and hypermarkets which are encountering significant difficulties.
The operation, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter, provides for a transfer of stores in three successive waves: April 30, May 31 then July 1.
Auchan and the Groupement Les Mousquetaires have undertaken to take over all of the employment contracts of the employees concerned, indicates Casino.
The sale of Casino’s supermarkets and hypermarkets takes place as part of a vast restructuring of the group, which is in serious financial difficulties.
At the beginning of the month, Casino’s shareholders and creditors gave the green light to a safeguard plan which will put an end to Jean-Charles Naouri’s thirty-year reign over the company, which he controlled via his holding company Rallye.
Casino is to be taken over this year by a new management team led by Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky.
(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Zhifan Liu)
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