Casino expects to recover just under 500 million euros with the sale of part of its stake in the Brazilian wholesaler Assaï. It sells 10.4% of the capital of the “cash and carry” brand (wholesale) and does not rule out selling another 3.7%. Slowly…
After having sold its energy subsidiary GreenYellow, but also Leader Price, FloaBank, the Mercyalis real estate company or the Sarenza site, this is another step in the execution of the debt reduction program that the Saint-Etienne group has set. It expects to reach 4,500 million euros by the end of 2023. There are “400 million euros to be achieved through the incorporation of small non-strategic assets, exclusively on the perimeter of France”, they tell us from the Casino side.
Is this capable of reassuring investors and creditors, banks in the first place, who are urging the distributor to speed up its deleveraging? On the horizon “two, three months, it’s reassuring,” estimates Clément Genelot, an analyst at Bryan Garnier & Co, who believes that it is a respite in the short term.
In fact, there are other maturities to come, beyond 2023. Around 700 million euros to refinance maturing in 2024. Apart from the “nuggets” Monoprix, Franprix, CDiscount, there is not much left in France.
The next decisive months
Assets in Latin America are maintained. After the sale announced at the beginning of the week, Casino still owns 30% of Assaï, according to Clément Genelot, who believes that it is “at this moment, the only liquid asset”, the only one that really “has value”, in this region, for the French distributor.
At Casino we assure that there is “nothing else planned” on the Brazilian side. Even selling a maximum of what can still be sold in Latin America, it seems complicated, according to several experts, with a debt that has reached a ceiling of 7,500 million euros for this first half of 2022. Casino has not yet fired all its cards, the spirits a source close to the file. The upcoming 2024 deadlines are fast approaching and need to be anticipated. Therefore, the next few months will be decisive for the future of Jean-Charles Naouri’s group.
Source: BFM TV
