French antitrust clears Intermarche's purchase of Casino stores with conditions

PARIS (Reuters) - The French anti-trust authority said on Thursday it had cleared the purchase by French retailer Intermarche of 61 Casino stores, provided Intermarche agreed to re-sell three stores to solve competition issues.

Intermarche agreed in May to buy the 61 stores from Casino and notified the French competition authority of its plan in July.

Since then, debt-ridden Casino announced in December it had entered exclusive talks to sell -- 313 hypermarkets and supermarkets in France -- to Les Mousquetaires, owner of Intermarche and to Auchan Retail.

The sale would leave Casino with upmarket brand Monoprix as well as Franprix, which also focuses on city-centre stores.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)