Casino and Teract expand tie up talks to Intermarche owner

Teract SA

24/04/2023 06:49

PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - Debt-laden supermarket chain
Casino  CASP.PA  and smaller food retailer Teract  TRACT.PA 
said on Monday that Groupement Les Mousquetaires, owner of
supermarket chain Intermarche, had joined their exclusive tie-up
talks.
    Under the planned deal, Groupement Les Mousquetaires and
Casino are considering extending their purchasing alliances by
two years until 2028. They are also considering extending their
agreements to the new entity to be formed between Casino Group
and Teract, which would be controlled by Casino.
    The new entity could also transfer to Groupement Les
Mousquetaires over several years and at market value, a number
of points of sale from Casino France representing a minimum of
1.1 billion euros of turnover, the statement said.
    Led by Jean-Charles Naouri, Casino, which has around 3
billion euros of debt maturing between 2024 and 2025, said in
March it was in exclusive talks to combine its French retail
business with Teract, a company backed by billionaire Xavier
Niel, seeking to reassure investors over its ability to generate
cash and reduce high debt.

 (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon;
Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
 ((dominique.vidalon@thomsonreuters.com; +33149495432; Reuters
Messaging: dominique.vidalon.reuters.com@reuters.net))