Fimalac to provide new financing for Casino's holding company (updated)

Finatis SA

30/03/2020 19:32

(Adds cancellation of previous financing facility)
    PARIS, March 30 (Reuters) - French financial group Fimalac
has agreed to provide new financing facilities for Rallye
 GENC.PA , the holding company behind supermarket retailer
Casino  CASP.PA  which has been under pressure to cut its debts.
    By bringing in new financing from another businessman to try
and tide it over in case it faces problems on its derivative
contracts, it has cancelled a previous arrangement, announced
earlier this month, with Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky,
Casino's second-largest shareholder.
    Rallye said on Monday that Fimalac had undertaken to provide
a financing facility with a maturity of 4 years - with a
one-year extension subject to Fimalac's agreement - either to a
subsidiary of Rallye unit Euris until 31 December 2020, or to
Rallye at the latest on 5 January 2021, in order to allow the
repayment of all certain derivatives transactions.
    The maximum amount of this facility is 215 million euros 
($238.4 million). Casino and Rallye head Jean-Charles Naouri
will also look to give Fimalac a boardroom seat at Casino.
    Fimalac, who already has a 2.6% stake in Casino, could
strengthen its position in the wake of these arrangements.
    Naouri has been trying to ease the company's debts and those
of Rallye, which was placed under protection from creditors in
May 2019, via asset sales and refinancings.
    Rallye shares closed down 0.15%.

    ($1 = 0.9020 euros)

 (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Matthieu Protard;
Editing by Louise Heavens and Benoit Van Overstraeten)
 ((sudip.kargupta@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 53 84;))