At the end of April, the Casino group still in a precarious financial situation announced that the company EP Global Commerce, owned by the Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky, offered the distributor the execution of a capital increase of 1,100 million euros that could mean a change of control of the group. An alternative route to discussions about a rapprochement with the Teract group.
Recall that the billionaire is a Casino shareholder, he now owns 10% of the company’s capital, making him the second largest shareholder behind Jean-Charles Naouri’s companies.
In an interview in SpotDaniel Kretinsky clarifies his strategy: “We have been shareholders since 2018. We have elements that objectively show that the financial situation is no longer sustainable without rapid intervention.”
“Jean-Charles could retain an eminent place”
“Responsible shareholders, we come to your rescue by proposing a recapitalization scenario that allows the interests of employees, suppliers and customers to be preserved. Our offer is not hostile ”, she underlines.
“Our offer is not contradictory to the project led by Matthieu, Xavier and Moez (Teract’s, editor’s note). But ours is the one that deals with the first issue of Casino: its debt. We are contributing more than 1,000 million euros immediately. “Sufficient to financially secure the group and at the same time finance its industrial investments necessary for its operational recovery in stores and in prices. Jean-Charles could retain a prominent place,” explains the businessman.
The one who is present in the French energy, distribution and media but who is a foreign investor also wants to be reassuring: “The company will remain French, its directors too. We will act in concert with Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière because we are doing our shareholder by right. Carrefour is very French, but it also has foreign shareholders in its capital.”
Source: BFM TV
