Intermarché plans to replace 180 Casino stores

Intermarché, the French supermarket group Les Mousquetaires, has decided to support its competitor.

Intermarché, the French supermarket group Les Mousquetaires, has decided to support its competitor, Casino, with financial aid of up to 1.7 billion euros. In exchange, Intermarché is acquiring many Casino supermarkets and promising to invest in the group.

Casino is reportedly taking drastic measures to reduce its €6.4 billion debt by giving up hundreds of stores in favor of Intermarché for about €1.6 billion. According to the trade magazine LSA, we are talking about 180 stores, although Casino has not yet confirmed the exact figure.

The first batch of stores will be sold by the end of this year, and the second batch will be transferred to Intermarché no later than three years later. Under a non-binding agreement, Les Mousquetaires also has the option to buy additional stores with a turnover of 500 million euros. Casino has already assured its employees that they will keep their jobs.

The Auxo purchasing alliance, created jointly by the two retailers in 2021, will be extended for two years until 2028. The companies will continue to purchase food, nonfood products and services together. Moreover, the alliance is expanding: through its collaboration with 56 Agromousquetaires factories, Casino will also co-purchase own-brand foods and meat and fish.

Finally, Les Mousquetaires has expressed its intention to symbolically enter the capital of Casino by providing 100 million euros in an upcoming funding round. However, the partnership does not rule out the possibility of further acquisitions by Teract or Czech retail investor Daniel Kretinsky. In the meantime, Casino is negotiating with its creditors, and the commercial court in Paris has begun mediation proceedings.

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