2023-07-16 19:59:51
The trio Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Moez-Alexandre Zouari announced on Sunday that they were renouncing their offer to take over the distributor Casino, which is awash in debt, leaving only Daniel Kretinsky’s offer in the running, supported by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière.
3F, the holding company through which the trio intended to take over Casino, wrote in a press release that it “refuses to participate in a biased process – the company having obviously already chosen its buyer”. She claims not to have “received the requested information” on several points of Casino’s financial situation.
A debt of more than 6 billion
Casino must currently renegotiate its crushing debt, announced at 6.4 billion euros at the end of 2022. It must also raise at least 900 million euros in equity.
The “3F” camp planned to inject the same amount into the group. Half of this contribution would have been in the form of equity – also matched by creditor investment funds from Casino, Attestor, Davidson Kempner and Farallon Capital, according to the terms of the offer published by Casino. And, for the other half, in the form of a debt issue.
The duo Kretinsky-Ladreit de Lacharrière now the only offer in the running
But the Attestor group “participated in a competing offer before the submission of offers” on Friday without ever saying so and “while continuing to participate in 3F meetings”, denounces the press release on Sunday.
The Kretinsky-Ladreit de Lacharrière duo, now the only bid in the running, plans to inject 1.35 billion euros in equity, including more than 900 million euros from themselves, at the rate of 750 million for the Czech billionaire and 150 for the Frenchman.
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