West Ham shareholder Daniel Kretinsky has proposed a £1 billion capital increase at French Groupe Casino to which it would subscribe under a plan that could lead to a change of control at the retailer, it said on Monday. Casino has around €3 billion of debt maturing between 2024 and 2025.
Currently, it is in exclusive talks to combine its French retail business with Teract, as it seeks to reassure investors over its ability to generate cash and reduce debt.
EP Global Commerce a.s, a Czech company controlled by Czech billionaire Kretinsky, has proposed to subscribe to capital increases at Casino worth an aggregate €1.1 billion. (£1 billion) The company is already Casino’s second-largest shareholder with a stake of 10.06%.
“At this stage, Casino Group has acknowledged the (Kretinsky) proposal,” Casino said in a statement.
“If it were to respond positively to this proposal, the implementation of the transactions proposed by EP Global Commerce a.s. could, depending on the financial parameters ultimately agreed between the parties, lead to a change of control of Casino and to a dilution which might be very significant for existing shareholders,” it said.
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