A consortium led by Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky obtained EU antitrust approval to take control of France's debt-laden Casino. Current shareholders will be massively diluted under a restructuring deal which will end the 30-year reign of 74-year-old Jean-Charles Naouri, who controlled Casino until now.
To repay part of its 6 billion euros in debt, Casino will have to sell more than 300 points of sale in France. Recently, news broke that Intermarché and Auchan are set to buy 320 of its stores, all the hypermarkets and supermarkets. Their bid was higher than that of rivals Lidl and Carrefour.
Retailer market shares in France will look different after the takeover. Although the top three remains unchanged - Leclerc, Carrefour and Les Mousquetaires (Intermarché) - the individual market shares would change: Leclerc remains on top with 24.6%. Carrefour gains 2.4 points to 21.2% when it incorporates the Louis Delhaize group this summer. Intermarché will gain 1.2 points to 17.6% when it gets all of Casino’s supermarkets. One question, what will happen to Casino’s remaining banners Franprix (convenience stores) and Monoprix?