“Less debt, less interest and more resources”: the former Casino group finds an agreement with its creditors, Czech billionaire Kretinsky could control 80% of the distributor

It’s a breath of fresh air for Plesio, the former Casino group. After several months of negotiations, the distributor announced this Tuesday, November 10, that it had reached an agreement in principle with its shareholder Daniel Kretinsky and its main creditors. An announcement awaited for several days, while the group had twice postponed the publication of its third quarter sales.

During an exchange with journalists, general manager Philippe Palazzi welcomed a “very good agreement” which should make it possible to strengthen the financial structure of the group. Concretely, Plesio's debt will be reduced from 1.4 billion to 800 million euros, the creditors agreeing to abandon more than 600 million euros of debts. Its repayment will be spread over five years and the interest rates, currently 9%, will be revised downwards.

Daniel Kretinsky could hold 80% of the capital For his part, Daniel Kretinsky will reinject 390 million euros of new money in the form of a capital increase. The Czech businessman will retain control of the distributor and could even see his stake rise to around 80%, in particular thanks to the repurchase of part of the debts converted into shares. “Less debt, less interest and more resources for the group,” summarized Philippe Palazzi.

The agreement also provides for the maintenance of the head office in Saint-Étienne and support for the current management team. The partner banks are also renewing their operational financing in order to guarantee the liquidity of the distributor. A final agreement is expected on December 19, before validation by the commercial court and finalization envisaged by the end of March 2027.

Strongly increasing profitability From now on, management intends to concentrate on the relaunch of its brands. Philippe Palazzi, however, assures that he did not wait for this agreement to begin the transformation of the group, whose profitability would have tripled in two years. In the third quarter, turnover increased by 0.3% on a comparable basis, to 1.9 billion euros, driven in particular by new commercial concepts and the development of take-out catering.

An activity on which the manager intends to accelerate, in particular through acquisitions, with the ambition that it represents half of the group's sales within ten years. Over the first nine months of the year, adjusted Ebitda after rent increased by 54%, thanks in particular to the pooling of purchases, cost reductions and the transition of several dozen stores to franchises. The has also returned to the green.

Machine-translated from French