By John Irish and Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS (Reuters) -Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky stepped closer to taking over debt-laden French retailer Casino on Monday after rival bidders pulled out of the race.
The move would bring an end to the 30-year reign of veteran entrepreneur Jean-Charles Naouri as France’s traditional retail sector adapts to the rise of e-commerce and hard-discount supermarket chains.
Naouri, 74, controls Casino via his listed holding Rallye.
Kretinsky has been vying to take control of Casino against the 3F Holding group, led by telecoms entrepreneur Xavier Niel, investment banker Matthieu Pigasse and businessman Moez-Alexandre Zouari.
3F said late on Sunday it was dropping its bid, citing a “biased process” and a lack of information, and after one of its backers – the Attestor Capital fund – switched sides to support Kretinsky’s bid.
It leaves Kretinsky, who submitted a revised offer over the weekend proposing a 1.2 billion euro ($1.35 billion) equity injection in Casino, as the only bidder.
Casino, which is saddled with net debt of 6.4 billion euros and is teetering on the brink of default, was due to release a statement on Wednesday after its board examined Kretinsky’s bid.
Casino’s creditors and management will attend a meeting hosted by CIRI – the finance ministry body that helps distressed companies and their creditors draw up restructuring plans – on Monday, two sources close to the matter said.
The group’s shares were suspended on Monday.
In a statement on Sunday, 3F said it had decided to pull out as it “refuses to participate in a biased process – the company having obviously already chosen its buyer”.
Casino and France’s finance ministry declined to comment.
Along with Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière’s Fimalac, Kretinsky’s offer would give him and Attestor a combined 50.3% stake in France’s sixth-largest retailer, two sources close to the matter said.
Kretinsky and Ladreit de Lacharriere would control the investment vehicle behind the 1.2 billion-euro equity injection, one of the sources said.
The bidders would also convert almost 5 billion euros of debt into equity, including 1.3 billion euros worth of secured debt.
Kretinsky and his EP Global Commerce investment vehicle could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kretinsky, 47, a former investment bank lawyer who built one of Europe’s largest energy groups, has been scooping up assets into retail, media and other areas after the energy crisis boosted profits at his power, gas and coal businesses.
He has gone on a buying spree in Britain, France and Germany, buying stakes in French national newspaper Le Monde, retailer Fnac-Darty, British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and German grocer Metro.
His net worth stands at $9.4 billion, according to Forbes.
Casino, which as been burning through cash as revenue fell and it lost market share to rivals, has been in a debt restructuring negotiation with creditors aimed at saving the company from bankruptcy. The deadline for an overall debt restructuring deal has been set for July 27.
The French government is concerned about possible job cuts at Casino, which employed 50,000 people in the country at the end of last year.
“Our desire is to make the greatest effort possible to preserve the maximum possible, rational perimeter of Casino,” Kretinsky told the Financial Times on Sunday.
($1 = 0.8892 euros)
(Writing by John Irish and Silvia Aloisi; Editing by David Holmes, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Mike Harrison)
