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French Ministry of the Economy Authorises Casino Group Takeover

CONSUMER STAPLES SECTOR

  • The French Ministry of the Economy has approved the takeover of the Casino Group by the Křetínský-led consortium as part of the restructuring process.
  • We viewed this as the most likely cause of a disruption given the politically sensitive nature of the takeover within France (French finance minister Bruno Le Maire in particular has taken an interest in the case regarding the rights of employees).
  • Casino bonds are trading at deep discounts and are very illiquid with little in the way of liquid pricing visible. Equity is -1.2% as of the time of writing while the CAC is +0.1% DoD.
  • We previously noted the approval steps required for the acquisition of control. With the European Commission and the French Ministry now indicating approval, Casino has indicated an updated list as follows:
  1. Antitrust approvals from authorities other than the European Commission (i.e. Morocco, Kosovo, Serbia and Northern Macedonia)
  2. A decision by the European Commission regarding the Foreign Subsidies Act.
  3. Change of control approval from the Luxembourg Insurance Authority regarding the Group's reinsurance subsidiary.
  4. The Paris Commercial Court's approval of accelerated safeguard plans for various Casino subsidiaries.

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