French mass-market retail company Groupe Casino has increased its stake in e-commerce company Cnova with the acquisition of CBD Luxembourg from GPA.
CBD Luxembourg indirectly holds 34.0% of the share capital in Cnova.
The €10m ($10.93m) deal will increase Casino's stake in Cnova, directly and through wholly owned subsidiaries, to 98.8%.
Cnova reported total revenues of €46m in the third quarter of fiscal 2023, increasing 1% compared with the same period in 2022.
The acquisition aligns with the group's financial restructuring programme and with a simplification of Cnova's ownership structure. It also aims to separate Casino's stakes in GPA and Cnova.
Casino will pay 80% of the deal price on completion of the transaction, and the remainder by 30 June 2024.
The deal is expected to close by 30 November 2023.
The Casino group also confirmed that it has received preliminary expressions of interest (EOI) for its hypermarket and supermarket stores.
Along with consortium members EP Equity Investment, Fimalac and the Trinity Investments Designated Activity Company, Casino will analyse the EOIs in the coming weeks.
Casino did not disclose the names of the bidders and the number of stores it intends to divest.
Reuters cited a report by French daily Les Echos that the retailer is planning to sell more supermarkets to Intermarché, or sell its remaining stores to the highest bidder.
The group has reportedly received EOIs for its remaining 291 supermarkets, which include 60 franchises and 52 large-scale hypermarkets.
In October 2023, Casino completed the sale of the first set of 61 stores in France to Groupement Les Mousquetaires.
