(News Bulletin 247) – The stock of the Saint-Etienne distribution group is suspended from trading on Wednesday morning at the company’s request. The board of directors will meet to validate the financial restructuring of Casino.

Trading in Casino shares is suspended on Wednesday as the retail group’s board of directors meets later in the day to review the completion of its financial restructuring.

A new management team formed around Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky will take control of the group, ending the 30-year reign of Casino boss Jean-Charles Naouri.

The listing of the supermarket group is thus suspended from 9:00 a.m. Wednesday and until further notice at the request of the company and pending the publication of a press release, said the stock exchange operator Euronext.

Casino, France’s seventh-largest supermarket group by market share, has found itself on the brink of bankruptcy after years of debt-financed acquisitions and recent losses of market share to its rivals.

Casino shares, which have fallen 86% since the start of the year, closed Tuesday at 0.1069 euros.

(With Reuters)