The Casino group, in the grip of serious financial difficulties, sold 121 stores to Auchan, Les Mousquetaires and Carrefour
A further step in the dismantling of Casino. The distributor, in the grip of serious financial difficulties, announced on Tuesday April 30 that it had sold 121 large format stores to its competitors Auchan, Carrefour and Les Mousquetaires out of the 287 planned. “This transaction is carried out on the basis of an enterprise value of the stores sold of 698 million euros“, precise the Casino press release, which changed hands at the end of March and now has Daniel Kretinsky, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière and the Attestor fund as main shareholders. In detail, Les Mousquetaires bought 65 stores and a drive-thru on Tuesday, Auchan 32 stores and Carrefour 23 stores.
These sales were made “in accordance” to the agreements concluded on January 24 with Auchan and the Les Mousquetaires group, and on February 8 with Carrefour. The group’s debt incurred by the previous management had pushed it to multiply disposals, including the sale of almost all of the large format stores, an activity which nevertheless constituted the historic heart of Casino. “The sales of the remaining 166 stores will take place in two stages, on May 31, 2024 and July 1, 2024”it is specified in the press release.
While the dismantling of Casino – which brings together brands well known to the French, such as Monoprix and Franprix – raises fears among its employees, the group wanted to point out that the three buyers “are committed to taking over all employment contracts” assigned to the transferred stores. Auchan, Carrefour and Les Mousquetaires have also promised to “maintain the provisions and advantages resulting from the Casino collective status for a minimum period of 15 months from the date of completion of the transfer”.
For employees who are not affected by these three waves of transfers, the future is more uncertain. THE “reorganization project”presented last week to staff representatives, plans to reduce Casino’s workforce by 1,300 to 3,200 positions, a wide range while waiting to know the number of stores and warehouses which can still be taken over by September.
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