Casino announced on Monday that it had received "preliminary expressions of interest with a view to acquiring hypermarket and supermarket stores", confirming information published on Sunday by Les Echos.

"These expressions of interest will be analyzed by the Casino group and the consortium (EP Equity Investment III s.à.r.l, Fimalac and Trinity Investments Designated Activity Company) in the coming weeks, it being specified that any disposal operation will have to be approved in advance by the consortium in accordance with the lock-up agreement dated October 5, 2023," the group said in a statement.

According to

Les Echos

Casino could sell more supermarkets to Intermarché (Les Mousquetaires group), or even the remainder of its supers and hypers to the highest bidder. The daily also cites Carrefour as a potential candidate.

Heavily indebted, Casino signed a "lock-up" agreement in October with its main creditors, including Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, providing for an injection of equity and a reduction in the group's net debt.

Les Echos reports that Rallye's subsidiary has received expressions of interest for its remaining 291 supermarkets (including 60 franchises) and 52 hypermarkets.

Candidates for the takeover should have submitted their bids by Wednesday, says the newspaper.

The restructuring of the Saint-Etienne-based retailer, which involves Rallye losing control of the group, is scheduled to take place by the end of the first quarter of 2024. (Written by Claude Chendjou and Nicolas Delame)