German retailer Lidl is interested in taking over some 600 Casino and Monoprix stores and has approached investment fund Attestor, one of the key new allies of the buying duo of Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, AFP learned on Tuesday. . confirming information from World.
The newspaper claims to have consulted a letter signed by Kenneth McGrath, Lidl’s CEO to David Alhadeff, one of Attestor’s partners in charge of the Casino file, in which he draws up a “target” list of 300 Casino supermarkets and 300 Monoprix.
Contacted by AFP, Lidl declined to comment on the information.
“Expressions of interest but no discussions”
Attestor confirmed with AFP “marks of interest” from Lidl, but claimed there were “no discussions” at the moment, saying he was “committed to a long-term vision” with Daniel Kretinsky and Lacharrière’s Marc Ladreit.
The Attestor fund joined forces with Lacharrière’s Kretinsky-Ladreit duo to form a consortium that submitted a revised offer on Saturday, prompting competitors it was initially discussing with, the Niel-Pigasse-Zouari trio united in a 3F venture, to pull the sponge on Sunday.
It was in the context of the 3F offer that Lidl’s letter to Attestor was sent, adds a close source.
The Casino group gave the green light on Monday to an improved offer for the recapitalization and restructuring of its debt from the consortium led by Daniel Kretinsky.
At the end of May, when beginning the conciliation procedure that allows it to negotiate the restructuring of its enormous debt with its creditors, Casino had also announced an agreement with Intermarché for the sale of more than one hundred Casino stores.
Source: BFM TV
