The sale of discount chain Leader Price marks the latest in a series of disposals by Casino as part of plans to cut debt and improve its financial position and its shares were up nearly 3% at 1012. Furthermore, Casino group may sell additional Leader Price stores in the short term to ALDI, for an amount of up to €11 million. The agreement includes a transition period, running throughout 2021, during which the Casino group will manage the day-to-day operations until the stores are progressively converted to the ALDI banner.

The sale of 545 Leader Price stores, two Casino supermarkets and three warehouses by Casino to Aldi France was finalized for an enterprise value of € 717 million and proceeds from the sale of € 683 million, the group announced. of Stéphane origin this Monday evening.

Read also: Buy Leader Price, a survival imperative for Aldi in France

Of this amount, '

648 million euros [were] collected today,

' says Casino, which launched a vast plan of disposals of 4.5 billion euros to reduce its significant debt, which still reached 4.8 billion euros at the end of the first semester.

“

Up to 35 million euros in price supplement

” will be “

paid later on the basis of compliance with operational indicators during the transition period

”.

The agreement provides for the organization of a '

transition period during which day-to-day operations will continue to be managed by the Casino group until the gradual transition of stores under the Aldi brand throughout the year. 2021

”.

For its part, Aldi France explains that it is strengthening itself “

significantly

” on the French market with this acquisition.

'

The integration of these stores and warehouses allows the inventor of discount to develop its presence, in particular in Ile-de-France, in the South-East, on the Atlantic coast as well as in the big cities

', declares t it in another release.

The German group has been present in France since 1988 and claims to employ more than 10,000 people, in 862 stores currently.

To read also: The stores of La Halle interest Aldi, Lidl and Carrefour

Casino remains the owner of the Leader Price brand and will be able to operate it in France and internationally '

under certain conditions agreed with Aldi

'.

It will '

thus maintain a profitable activity as a wholesaler with 200 Leader Price Franchised stores, and external or internal customers (Franprix, Casino Géant or Casino supermarkets)

'.

'

The Casino group will now be able to focus on its promising formats such as e-commerce, premium and proximity, and on new high-growth businesses around energy and data

', estimates Jean-Charles Naouri , the CEO of Casino.

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French supermarket group Casino has launched a refinancing to clean out its upcoming debt maturities, hitting the final issuance slot given the long syndication timeline for raising a term loan' B'. It aims to issue a €200m TLB and a €300m unsecured bond, while launching a tender offer to buy back up to €1.2bn of outstanding debt.

Casino said that after the transaction it will have largely covered maturities until 2024. If it is unable to buy back all the bonds it wants during the tender, it will place the new cash in a segregated account to repay maturities.

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