Casino: the rescue plan validated by the Paris commercial court

An unsurprising but expected decision: the Paris commercial court validated on Monday the rescue plan for the distributor Casino, the last major step before the restructuring of its debt and its takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. “There is reason to adopt the draft accelerated safeguard plan presented by the company” Distribution Casino France, judged the court, which had to rule on a total of seven companies belonging to the Casino group and which had entered into proceedings at the end of October accelerated backup.

“It was that or legal redress,” reacted Laurent Milazzo, CFDT union delegate to the CSEC (Central Social Economic Committee) of DCF. The group, which employed 50,000 people in France at the end of 2022 under well-known brands such as Casino, Franprix or Monoprix, could no longer meet its debt repayments. In its judgment, the commercial court indicates that the group's debt is estimated at nearly 8 billion euros in total in 2023, including 3.7 with banks.

The restructuring of Casino's debt plans to wipe out around 5 billion euros of debts, and is made possible by the provision of new money to the tune of 1.2 billion euros, including more than 900 million by a consortium buyers including billionaires Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière as well as the Attestor investment fund. “After such uncertain weeks, where the threat was to disappear, the time will now come to restore the means and therefore the breath to the Casino group, resized, reorganized and deleveraged,” reacted Daniel Kretinsky in a press release from these buyers. . He indicates that “the road will still be long, with difficult moments and will require a lot of effort from everyone”.

Concretely, the capital increases must take place in March, at the end of which the current shareholders of the distributor, starting with the first of them Jean-Charles Naouri, will be very massively diluted. The future of the man who has been CEO of this former retail flagship since 2005 is not known.

“Starting in April, the management team, led by its general manager Philippe Palazzi”, a former member of Metro and the agroindustrial company Lactalis, “will implement an ambitious plan of reorganization, investment and modernization to support the development of the group's brands", notably Monoprix and Franprix, according to the consortium. Philippe Palazzi indicated in mid-January that an investment program was planned to the tune of 300 million euros per year until 2028. Asked about the future of the current team, he indicated that he was planning “changes” but that it will also “keep competent people”.

These investments will be made in particular in Monoprix, since almost all of the large stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, which bear the historic brand of the distributor of Saint-Etienne origin, will leave the fold of Casino. The latter “topped” with its competitors Auchan, Intermarché and Carrefour to sell them 288 stores and their more than 12,000 employees, in three successive waves between the end of April and the beginning of July.

The operation is highly criticized by employees because this departure of almost all of the stores bearing the historic brand of the distributor of Saint-Etienne origin will have serious consequences on employment in support functions. On the side of the consortium of buyers, the commitments made are to “preserve employment as much as possible”, to maintain a headquarters in Saint-Etienne and, concerning employees who will change brands, a “specific mission to measure monitoring of social consequences.

The Casino group will also have, in addition to Monoprix which also includes the Naturalia brand, a network of more than 6,000 local stores in the regions under the Spar, Vival or Le Petit Casino brands, the e-retailer CDiscount, and a thousand Franprix stores (including 75% franchise). “We reserve the right to appeal the court's decision within 10 days, before the constitution next month of the new board of directors which will be an opportunity to get rid of Jean-Charles Naouri,” reacted Jean Pastor, central CGT union delegate of the group.