Groupe Casino has announced the launch of a refinancing to extend the maturity of its debt and reduce its costs, the French retailer said in a statement.
Following similar measures implemented in December 2020 and March 2021, Casino has said that the current refinancing of its debt includes a tap of its Term Loan B of maturity August 2025 for a targeted amount of €400 million.
It also includes a tender offer on bonds maturing January 2023 and March 2024.
'The funds raised and potentially not used during the tender offer will be used for future debt buybacks and repayments,' the group said.
Groupe Casino said that the the completion of the transactions is expected in the coming weeks.
Third-Quarter Performance
Earlier this month, Groupe Casino announced a 1% increase in same-store group sales in the third quarter of its financial year, an improvement on the 4.1% decline it recorded in the second quarter.
In its core market of France, however, sales were down 4.3% in the third quarter, with its Monoprix banner seeing a 4.1% drop, Franprix down 3.6%, and its hypermarkets business down 8.5%.
'In a declining food market shaped by the reopening of the out-of-home food industry, the impact of the health pass on hypermarkets, and a Paris region still feeling the effect of the drop in tourism, the various banners saw a gradual return to growth,' the retailer said at the time.
The retailer also recently announced a quick commerce deal with Gorillas.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
