Lidl candidate for takeover of 600 Casino and Monoprix stores

The casino group stores have a new fan. German distributor Lidl has shown interest in acquiring nearly 600 Casino and Monoprix stores and has approached investment fund Attestor, one of the new key allies of the Kretinsky-Ladreille de Lachariere duo, Le Monde said.

The daily claims to have read a letter signed by Kenneth McGrath, general manager of Lidl, to David Alhadeff, one of Attestor’s partners in charge of the casino file, in which he lists 300 casino supermarkets and 300 Monoprix as a “target” list. Contacted, Lidl declined to comment on the information.

Attestor confirmed “signs of interest” from Lidl, but confirmed that there are currently “no discussions” with Lidl, saying it is “engaged in a long-term vision” with Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladre de Lachariere.

Casino gives green light to Cretin’s offer

The Attestor Foundation joined the duo Lacharrière Kretinsky-Ladreit to form a consortium that submitted a revised proposal on Saturday, pushing rivals it originally discussed with, the trio Niel-Pigasse-Zouari, merged into 3F, to throw the sponge on Sunday. It was in the context of proposal 3F that Lidl’s letter was sent to Attestor, adds a close source.

On Monday, the Casino group gave the green light to an improved proposal to recapitalize and restructure its debt from a consortium led by Daniel Kretinsky. “I am committed to hyper (markets) and super (markets) and keeping the perimeter as wide as possible,” the Czech billionaire told Les Echos on Sunday.

At the end of May, as it entered into conciliation proceedings to negotiate a restructuring of its huge debt with creditors, Casino also announced an agreement with Intermarché to sell more than a hundred of its stores.