Since Casino entered into conciliation proceedings to reduce its debt on May 25, not a day goes by without a press release or an article on the negotiations in progress. The letter a, in particular, closely follows the twists and turns of the case. Too ?
According to our information, the confidential letter in the bosom of Indigo Publications (Intelligence Online, Africa Intelligence, Glitz) received from Casino, on June 15, a direct summons to appear before the Paris Criminal Court. The distributor, through his lawyer Olivier Baratelli, accuses the media of having defamed him in nine articles published between April 27 and June 14. He claims 13.7 million euros as compensation, or 1.7 times the turnover of the small press group in 2022. This unusual amount in defamation proceedings is justified, according to Casino, because that the articles of The letter a have “leads to a decline in share value”.
The group calculates its economic damage on the stock market session of June 8. That day, The letter a published two articles. The first, “The shadow of serial desertions looms over Casino’s board,” contains false and misleading claims, the quote points out. The second, titled “Casino takeover: InVivo throws in the towel”, appeared at 11:40 a.m., before the official press releases were released, shortly after 6 p.m. Casino’s share price fell 2.26%, which the subpoena said was a loss in value “directly attributable” of 13.7 million euros, given the market capitalization of the group headed by Jean-Charles Naouri. A link yet difficult to establish, while the action Casino has lost nearly 47% in one year, 78% in three years.
Accusations with boomerang effect
Questioned, Octave Bonnaud, editor-in-chief of The letter adenounces a “attempt to intimidate” : “It doesn’t impress us. We will continue to follow Casino and mass distribution. But this raises the question of whether a media can take a critical look at a large group. » “We claim the right to publish information that is likely to lower a stock price. If we followed the logic of Jean-Charles Naouri, the economic press would look like a weather report which would only announce good weather”, he adds. And swipe: “When Mr. Naouri was heard in police custody on 1er June, Casino’s share price plunged 9%. Will Casino attack The JDD or AFP who released the information? »
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