Groupe Casino has slammed a report by Muddy Waters Capital that suggested that the ‘Casino debt burden is dangerously high and is only being managed for the short term’.
In a statement, Casino said the report is an ‘obvious intent to harm Casino, its employees and its shareholders’.
It added that ‘this accusatory report contains grossly erroneous allegations that the Group will answer in detail’.
‘In light of this dissemination of misleading information, Casino Group has filed a claim with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers and reserves the possibility to exercise its rights before national courts, including criminal courts.’
Muddy Waters Capital is a research firm founded by short-seller Carson Block.
In the report, Muddy Waters also suggested that Casino was one of the ‘most overvalued and misunderstood’ companies it had ever come across’.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
