The distributor in financial difficulties Casino has, as expected, concluded a binding agreement for the restructuring of its debt with its main creditors, in continuity with the agreement in principle reached at the end of July,he announced Thursday October 5 in a press release.
Casino, 200,000 employees worldwide including 50,000 in France, was strangled by a debt of 6.4 billion euros at the end of 2022, but its restructuring is enabled by a takeover offer from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, of Frenchman Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière and the British fund Attestor. The restructuring is expected in the first quarter of 2024.
This agreement provides, on the one hand, for the contribution of 1.2 billion euros in new money by these takeover candidates, on the other hand for Casino’s debt to be reduced by almost 5 billion euros and for the Casino activities in Latin America, for which three quarters of the group’s approximately 200,000 employees work, be sold.
Placement in accelerated backup
The group said in a statement that it had “concluded a lock-up agreement relating to its financial restructuring”with the consortium of buyers and with “creditors economically holding 75% of Term Loan B1, the main commercial banking groups and certain of the aforementioned creditors economically holding 92% of the revolving credit facility (RCF), as well as holders of bonds issued by Quatrim representing 58% of these bonds”.
In other words, these are the group’s so-called secured creditors. For unsecured creditors, Casino explains “continue discussions” in order to “to obtain their support for it”.
Casino will then have to request its placement in accelerated safeguard, a process at the end of which the recalcitrant creditors will be on board “in a constrained manner if necessary” since the law provides for it, noted several sources at the end of July when the agreement in principle was signed.
The amicable conciliation procedure in which discussions on Casino’s debt are held runs until October 25 and Casino plans to carry out the restructuring of its debt in the first quarter of 2024.