From a few hundred to several tens of thousands of employees. In a few weeks, once the plans to acquire the distributor Casino, the publisher Editis and TechFoundations, the outsourcing division of Atos, have been definitively signed, Daniel Kretinsky will establish himself as one of the leading employers in France. Nearly 80,000 people will have the Czech businessman as 100% owner or first shareholder.
The media (Mr. Kretinsky is an indirect shareholder of the World), a sector in which the first acquisition dates back to 2018 with the weekly Mariannethen the purchase, in 2019, of the French activities of the German energy company Uniper, opened the doors to France, but these businesses only employ 700 and 400 people respectively.
Nothing to do with the 50,000 Casino employees in France. On their own, the distributor’s French workforce represents precisely double that of EPH, the energy group of the Czech businessman, who made his fortune in coal-fired power plants and which allows him to make acquisitions all over Europe. To these 50,000 employees at Casino, we must add the 19,000 of the distributor Fnac-Darty, of which Mr. Kretinsky holds 25% of the capital, the 6,000 IT specialists of TechFoundations and the 2,500 employees of Editis.
A weighty argument
This new social responsibility in France engages the Czech billionaire much more than if he had remained confined to the media and energy. Denis Olivennes, who advises Mr. Kretinsky in the press and publishing, likes to present his boss as a builder and not as a speculator. To win Casino, Mr. Kretinsky, associated for the occasion with Fimalac, the holding company of Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, and with the British fund Attestor, knew well that he had to show his credentials on the social aspect to reassure the Ministry of economy and the town hall of Saint-Etienne, the cradle of the distributor.
“There is no question that the historic headquarters of the group will be threatened by the takeover, regardless of the buyer who will be chosen”had launched the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, before the deputies on July 11, while Xavier Niel (individual shareholder of the World), Matthieu Pigasse and Moez-Alexandre Zouari were also in the race to take over Casino. Message heard: MM. Kretinsky and Ladreit de Lacharrière pledged in the agreement signed on July 27 to maintain employment in France, to preserve the Saint-Etienne headquarters, which has 1,500 people, and to keep as many hypermarkets and supermarkets as possible.
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