IIt floats like an end-of-reign atmosphere in mass distribution. Jean-Charles Naouri, who built his empire (Casino, Franprix, Monoprix, Cdiscount, Pao de Açucar, Naturalia…) on the remains of his associates by taking advantage of their temporary difficulties, is about to abdicate. For a long time, the CEO of Casino has been a fearsome predator on the lookout for loopholes in the family pacts of mismanaged businesses. He is now in the uncomfortable role of prey, forced to sell his business at auction.
The work of a quarter of a century of patience and stubbornness, during which he has created as many enemies as his group has ensigns, is about to be reduced to nothing. His obsession with controlling everything, capital as well as people, finally led him to lose everything. Between the covetousness of the opportunists, the cold greed of the creditors and the evil joy of those who were only waiting for his downfall, Mr. Naouri left distribution as he entered it: alone and without a fortune.
His destiny is written like a Darwinian fable: to devour until you end up being devoured yourself. Endowed with an intelligence capable of bluffing any interlocutor, always in a position to be one step ahead in negotiations, devious in the face of adversity, the man gave the impression that he was unsinkable.
Powerful interpersonal skills
Former chief of staff of Pierre Bérégovoy at the Ministry of Finance in the 1980s, Mr. Naouri had himself set the framework for what would be his future playground by adapting France to the liberalization of the financial markets. After the return of the right to power in 1986, he put his skills to work for the Banque Rothschild, before creating his own investment fund, Euris, the starting point of a rare epic in French capitalism.
This era allowed him to have two assets that would be the pillars of his success: an unparalleled mastery of financial engineering, allowing him to take control of huge targets with little money, and a powerful interpersonal skills in the small world of Parisian business. For several years, when the building began to falter, a race against time with its creditors was engaged. But, by dint of broken promises, poorly calculated risks, convoluted financial structures, the debtor, however brilliant, ended up arousing mistrust. The worst flaw for a trapeze artist in high finance.
From the acquisition, in 1991, of Rallye, a small distribution chain in Brest, to the acquisition of the number one in the sector in Brazil, Pao de Açucar, via Casino or Monoprix, the Naouri house has been built on a succession of sweeping takeovers in which he left the shareholders of his targets spurned and frustrated, all at the cost of ever-growing debt.
You have 50.94% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.