Rallye, parent company of Casino, launches conciliation proceedings with creditors

Rallye, the parent company of Casino, announced on Monday, May 22, the opening of conciliation proceedings with its creditors by the Paris Commercial Court, in order to move forward on the renegotiation of its debt. The amicable discussions announced on April 25 having been unsuccessful, Rallye has “decided to request the opening of a conciliation procedure in order to benefit from a more protective legal framework to continue the discussions” with the creditors, which the commercial court accepted, according to a press release from the group.

A debt of nearly 10 billion euros

“The President of the Paris Commercial Court today opened conciliation proceedings with regard to Rallye, Foncière Euris, Finatis and Euris, for an initial period of four months, extendable if necessary by an additional month”, and appointed two conciliators, continues the text. This announcement does not directly concern the Casino distribution group, in financial difficulties, which has given itself until May 23, 5:00 p.m., before deciding on the advisability of a conciliation procedure with its creditors.

Casino is indebted to the tune of 6.4 billion euros at the end of 2022 (including 4.5 billion on its French activity), to which are added more than three billion in debt for the parent company of the group, Rallye. Rallye, as well as the cascade of holding companies through which Jean-Charles Naouri holds control of the distributor, had benefited in May 2019 from a placement in safeguard procedure. Casino, which employs more than 50,000 people in France and 200,000 worldwide under many brands, including Monoprix or Franprix, has been struggling for years to get out of debt, so far without success.