Conciliation proceedings: Casino Group enters into an agreement in principle with EPGC a.s., Fimalac, Attestor and some of its main creditors
Update of 2023 forward-looking items
Paris, 28 July 2023
Casino Group announces that it has, under the aegis of the conciliators and of the Comité Interministériel de restructuration industrielle (CIRI), entered into an agreement in principle on 27 July 2023 with EP Global Commerce a.s., Fimalac, Attestor (hereafter collectively the "Consortium") and creditors holding more than two-thirds of the Term Loan B, aiming at strengthening the Group's equity structure and restructuring its financial debt (the “Agreement in Principle”).
The Agreement in Principle has been approved by the Board of directors, upon unanimous recommendation of the ad hoc committee. It provides for the conclusion by the parties and the other creditors supporting the Agreement in Principle of a binding Lock-up Agreement1 during September 2023, allowing the opening of accelerated safeguard proceedings (procédure de sauvegarde accélérée) by October 2023 and the effective completion of all the restructuring operations during the course of the first quarter of 2024.
French banking groups (holding, together with some of the above-mentioned creditors, more than two-thirds of the RCF) have confirmed to the Group their agreement in principle on the main terms of the restructuring as set forth in the Agreement in Principle.
In any event, Casino shareholders will be massively diluted and Rallye will lose control of Casino.
A summary of the Agreement in Principle has been posted today on Casino’s website (Agreement).
This above summary contains key forward-looking financial information provided by Casino Group to the stakeholders in the framework of the conciliation proceedings, as well as the key items of the business plan prepared to date by the Consortium on the basis of the aforementioned financial data provided by Casino Group.
Therefore, all inside information relating to Casino Group which has been provided to date by Casino to stakeholders under non-disclosure agreements, as part of the conciliation proceedings, has also been publicly disclosed.
In addition, the Group has today obtained from the creditors under the Revolving Credit Facility to waive their right to claim any accelerated payment on the basis of any event of default under the financial covenants as of 30 June 2023 and 30 September 2023 (see press release dated 26 June 2023).
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This press release was prepared solely for information purposes and should not be construed as a solicitation or
an offer to buy or sell securities or related financial instruments. Likewise, it does not provide and should not be
treated as providing investment advice. It has no connection with the specific investment objectives, financial
situation or needs of any receiver. No representation or warranty, either express or implied, is provided in relation
to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained herein. Recipients should not consider
it as a substitute for the exercise of their own judgement. All the opinions expressed herein are subject to change
without notice.
Forward-looking statements
This press release may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms as “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “may”, “assume”, “plan”, “intend”, “will”, “should”, “estimate”, “risk” and or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts and include statements regarding the Casino Group’s intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the Casino Group’s plans, objectives, assumptions, expectations, prospects and beliefs and statements regarding other future events or prospects. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future.
These forward-looking statements reflect the Casino Group’s current expectations, intentions or forecasts of future events, which are based on the information currently available and on assumptions made by the Casino Group. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this announcement are made as of the date hereof and the Casino Group is under no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable laws. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Casino Group, or persons acting on the Casino Group’s behalf, included in but not limited to press releases (including on the Casino Group’s website), reports and other communications, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained throughout this press release.
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ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS CONTACTS
Christopher WELTON – Phone number: +33 (0)1 53 65 64 17
cwelton.exterieur@groupe-casino.fr
or
+33 (0)1 53 65 24 17
IR_Casino@groupe-casino.fr
PRESS CONTACTS
Casino Group – Communications Department
Nicolas BOUDOT - nboudot@groupe-casino.fr - + 33 (0)6 79 61 40 99
or
+ 33(0)1 53 65 24 78 - directiondelacommunication@groupe-casino.fr
Agence IMAGE 7
Karine Allouis – Phone number: +33 (0)6 11 59 23 26 - kallouis@image7.fr
Laurent Poinsot – Phone number: + 33(0)6 80 11 73 52 - lpoinsot@image7.fr
Franck Pasquier – Phone number : + 33(0)6 73 62 57 99 - fpasquier@image7.fr
1 A lock up agreement is an agreement pursuant to which a signatory commits to support and take all steps and actions reasonably necessary to implement and consummate the Group's restructuring.
Attachment
