Casino parent Rallye met with bankers on safeguard plan (updated)

Finatis SA

25/09/2019 18:06

(Adds details)
    PARIS, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Debt-burdened Rallye  GENC.PA 
said that it and other shareholders of French retailer Casino
 CASP.PA  had met with bankers on Wednesday to present them the
principles of their draft safeguard plan.
    Casino Chairman and CEO Jean-Charles Naouri in May had
placed the retailer's parent companies Rallye, Finatis and
Fonciere Euris under protection from creditors in a bid to save
the group from collapse.   urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N24A2F0
    Rallye, Fonciere Euris, Finatis and Euris said in a
statement the draft plan - drawn up with the assistance of 
judicial administrators - involved the repayment over a ten-year
period of all liabilities.
    It also called for a repayment schedule providing for a
minimum of 5% of each debt covered by the plan from the third to
the ninth year of the plan and for a maximum of 65% in the tenth
year of the plan.
    The plan also calls for individual consultation of
creditors.
    In case of refusal of certain creditors, the commercial
court may impose extended payment terms, subject to complying
with the minimum legal repayment terms as from the third year of
the plan, the statement said.
    Rallye, Fonciere Euris, Finatis and Euris also asked to
extend for six months the observation period with creditors with
the view to get the plan cleared by the court at the end of the
first quarter 2020 at the latest.
    Casino's net debt stood at 2.71 billion euros at the end of
2018, and Rallye's stood at 2.90 billion euros.
    Casino has been struggling in France, where a price war
among supermarkets has dented retailers' profit margins.
    While Casino itself was not placed under bankruptcy
protection, it was hit with downgrades that left its credit
rating deeper in junk territory, with rating agencies Moody's
and S&P citing concerns over debts at Casino's parent companies.
    

 (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon
Editing by GV De Clercq)
 ((geert.declercq@tr.com; +33 1 4949 5343; Reuters Messaging:
Twitter: @gvdeclercq))