The two groups Auchan and Intermarché have joined forces to buy more than 300 Casino stores. The brand, in the process of being dismantled, published this information on Monday, December 18.
The Casino group, in debt at around 7 billion euros and in the process of being dismantled, will be bought by Auchan and Intermarché. The information was confirmed by Casino on Monday December 18. Intermarché and Auchan announced that they had entered into “exclusive negotiations” to buy 313 Casino stores for 1.35 billion euros, indicates Capital. Auchan should take over the hypermarkets, while the supermarkets would be taken over by Intermarché. All Casino store employees should be retained. The offer from the consortium formed by Auchan and Intermarché was higher than that of Lidl and Carrefour.
In a press release, Auchan and Intermarché indicate “that by uniting for the purchase of the Casino stores (they) are carrying out a project with 100% French capital, a project which would also strengthen French food sovereignty and support for the agricultural world and the territories “. For the moment, this takeover does not change anything for consumers since the sale of the Casino group could take place “before the end of the first quarter of 2024”, reports Libération. If the takeover is confirmed, the Casino brands would disappear in favor of the Intermarché and Auchan brands.
For their part, employees are worried. The brand’s historic site, located in Saint-Etienne, has been the site of numerous demonstrations by company employees, fearing for the future of their jobs. The last one took place on Sunday December 17. It brought together 4,000 people according to the unions and 2,000 according to the police. Xavier Kemlin, the great-grandson of Casino founder Geoffroy Guichard, was present. He said he would unveil a recovery plan to the unions on Wednesday, December 20. Questioned by franceinfo, Jean Pastor, CGT Casino delegate, spokesperson for the inter-union, explained that “employees fear for their jobs and for the integrity of the Casino group”. “Behind a brand, there are men and women,” he recalled.
