Casino guichard: The Casino group confirms that it will sell its subsidiary GreenYellow to reduce its debt


(BFM Bourse) – The Saint-Etienne distributor Casino confirms that it has initiated a sale process for GreenYellow, its subsidiary dedicated to the production of solar energy. The group had made reducing its debt a priority, and this prospect is appreciated by the markets. The title is back in favor with investors after being sent back to its historic lows last winter.

The pandemic had slowed down the execution of Casino’s disposal plan, which had affected the group’s accounts in 2021. The further increase in the distributor’s debt was then the main reason for market concern. The operation of the day should somewhat temper fears about the case as Casino confirmed on Monday that it had launched a sale process for GreenYellow, its subsidiary dedicated to the production of solar energy, in order to sell the company “d ‘by the end of the year’.

Casino claims to have received “no binding offer” for the time being: “no final decision has been taken on this project”, the group said in a press release. Several media including The echoes and Le Figaro had announced this sale at the end of last week. “In response to market rumors echoed in the press, Casino confirms that it has launched a process to sell GreenYellow with a view to a potential transaction by the end of the year,” the group said. .

According to Le Figaro, the sale of GreenYellow could reach 1.5 billion euros and Engie and TotalEnergies would be interested. Founded in 2007, GreenYellow generates solar electricity and provides energy efficiency solutions.

A disposal plan at work to get out of debt

Casino is engaged in a disposal plan of 4.5 billion euros by the end of 2023. When it published its first quarter results at the end of April, it still had 1.2 billion euros in sales to be made. . The group published disappointing financial results for the year 2021 with debt swelling again. Its sales fell again in the first quarter.

As of December 31, 2021, non-current gross financial debt amounted to 7.46 billion euros, compared to 6.7 billion euros at the end of 2020. In addition, France Retail net debt (excluding Cdiscount and GreenYellow) had increased by 3 .7 billion at the end of 2020 to 4.4 billion at the end of 2021. Overall net debt, including that of its South American subsidiaries, stood at 5.86 billion euros, up 26.4% over one year .

The high-leverage arrangement allowing Jean-Charles Naouri to control Casino through a cascade of holdings ended up being overtaken by the weight of its debt in 2019, leading to the placement under safeguard procedure of its house. -mother Rallye.

The title had reached a historic low in early March in response to a new net loss over the past year. At 12.63 euros, the title of the distributor traded on March 7 simply at a level never before reached – at least in the “recent” stock market history of the company. This sale project thus allows the Casino title to relaunch with a gain of 5.43% to 19.04 euros, around 11:10 a.m. The action of its parent company Rallye rebounded 12% to 4.11 euros.

Sabrina Sadgui with AFP

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