Groupe Casino has announced the signing of a new €2 billion revolving credit facility, involving 21 French and international banks.
The credit facility, which will mature in October 2023, forms part of Casino's refinancing plan, which was announced in October of this year.
Participating Banks
The banks participating in the facility include BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Crédit Agricole Paris Ile de France, Crédit Lyonnais, Credit Suisse, HSBC, JPMorgan, Natixis and Société Générale, which acted as arrangers and bankrunners.
In addition, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bradesco, Citigroup, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, Goldman Sachs, ING, Itau BBA, La Banque Postale, MUFG, Natwest, Rabobank and Santander acted as arrangers.
Casino, Casino Finance and Monoprix have been named as the three borrowers under this facility.
The credit facility also includes two financial covenants, which will be tested on a quarterly basis, commencing on 31 March 2020, including a ratio of adjusted gross debt to EBITDA, the level of which varies over time; and a ratio of EBITDA to financial expenses that needs to be higher than 2.25x.
The group said that the new revolving credit facility improves the retail group's liquidity by increasing the average maturity of credit facilities in France from 1.6 to 3.6 years.
Animal Welfare
Elsewhere, Casino has also reiterated its commitment to animal welfare, following positive consumer feedback to its rollout of animal welfare labelling a year ago.
According to a study the retailer carried out in October of this year, 90% of respondents are interested in 'clear and reliable information' on the animal welfare conditions of the chickens they purchase, while 80% say that animal welfare labelling would prompt them to purchase more humanely reared chickens.
In addition, more than two-thirds (68%) said that they would be willing to pay more to be reassured about the well-being of chickens.
Last year, Casino, working alongside three animal welfare NGOs, introduced a new labelling initiative to assess the animal welfare of the chickens in its supply chain, with 230 evaluation criteria involved, and four levels: A - Superior, B - Good, C - Fairly good and D - Standard.
According to the retailer, by 2026, all chicken sold by the retailer will be graded 'C - Fairly Good' or better.
Early Commitment
"The Casino brand [...] made a very early commitment to improving animal welfare," commented Claire Luquet, director of the Casino brand, "first by stopping the marketing of eggs from chickens raised in by 2020, then by co-building with three NGOs an approach to assess the level of animal welfare of chickens.
"This new commitment to offer only products that have reached at least the 'Fairly Good' level of labelling, put in place by the Association Etiquette Bien-Etre Animal by 2026, demonstrates our desire to offer ever more responsible products."
© 2019 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.
