A new episode is at hand in the Casino soap story, as competitor Auchan is eyeing up the company. Last week, Casino, which is in urgent need of financing, lost the interest of its fiancé Teract.
Forging alliances
The owning Mulliez family has reportedly proposed to Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky that Auchan France be merged with the Casino group, Le Figaro reports. Auchan has long been looking for a partner, but previous attempts to merge with Système U and even Carrefour have failed. Together, Auchan and Casino would hold 15 % of the market and become France’s third-largest retailer.
Auchan is said to have made the proposal to Kretinsky and Casino’s newly-formed rescue team (Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Moez-Alexandre Zouari). Those three wealthy French businessmen who have made it their mission to turn Casino around and to do so, they say they are explicitly open to partnerships.
However, Kretinsky is already a Casino shareholder and has his own plans for the group. He wants to take a majority stake himself in exchange for an injection of capital. This will probably go against the wishes of the trio, who say they want to keep Casino in French hands. Auchan is not financially supporting Kretinsky in his takeover plan, but would like to work together after the acquisition.
