A Casino supermarket, June 12, 2023 in Laventie, in Pas-de-Calais (AFP / DENIS CHARLET)
The distributor Casino, in the grip of serious financial difficulties, indicated on Tuesday that it had sold 121 large format stores to its competitors Auchan, Carrefour and Les Mousquetaires out of the 287 planned.
“The Casino group today announces the sale of 121 stores”, “in accordance” with the agreements concluded on January 24 with Auchan and the Les Mousquetaires group, and on February 8 with Carrefour.
“This transaction is carried out on the basis of an enterprise value of the sold stores of 698 million euros,” specifies the press release from Casino, which changed hands at the end of March and now has as main shareholders Daniel Kretinsky, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière and the Attestor fund.
The group’s debt incurred by the previous management had pushed it to multiply disposals, including the sale of almost all of the large format stores, an activity which nevertheless constituted the historic heart of Casino.
In detail, Les Mousquetaires bought 65 stores and a drive-thru on Tuesday, Auchan 32 stores and Carrefour 23 stores. “The sales of the remaining 166 stores will take place in two stages, May 31, 2024 and July 1, 2024,” it is specified in the press release.
While the dismantling of Casino – which brings together brands well known to the French, such as Monoprix and Franprix – arouses fears among its employees, the group wanted to recall that the three buyers “are committed to taking over all of the contracts of work” assigned to the transferred stores.
Auchan, Carrefour and Les Mousquetaires also promised to “maintain the provisions and advantages resulting from the Casino collective status for a minimum period of 15 months from the date of completion of the transfer”.
For employees who are not affected by these three waves of transfers, the future is more uncertain.
The “reorganization project”, presented last week to staff representatives, plans to reduce Casino’s workforce from 1,300 to 3,200 positions, a wide range while waiting to know the number of stores and warehouses which can still be taken over. by September.