By Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS Casino and the holders of its 6.4 billion euros ($7 billion) of debt met at France's finance ministry on Thursday morning as the beleaguered retailer seeks to thrash out a deal to secure its future, two sources close to the matter said.
The meeting, hosted by CIRI - the finance ministry body that helps distressed companies and their creditors draw up restructuring plans - was the first of its kind for Casino as all of its creditors, and the group's management, were represented, the sources said.
An attempt to restructure Casino's debt has become unavoidable, as the sixth-largest French retailer, home to Monoprix and Franprix chains, continues to burn cash and faces 3 billion euros of debt maturing in 2024 and 2025.
It is also a crucial pre-requisite for any takeover of the group, as the race for Casino's assets has started, with deep-pocketed investors offering to bring fresh money into the group in two rival bids.
French banks BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Natixis are part of the restructuring talks, which notably comprise 21 lenders and hedge funds, one of the sources said, adding they were divided between a groups of secured and unsecured creditors, each holding about half of Casino's debt.
Casino's creditors were presented an independent business review by audit firm Accuracy, the same source said. The aim was to provide creditors with the same set of figures and present the exact state of Casino's finances, the source said.
The final deadline for a deal is Oct. 25, set by a French court, but an agreement could be found sooner, as billionaires Xavier Niel and Daniel Kretinsky each lead competing 1.1 billion-euro bids for the firm.
"The vision of the new money providers is to say that at the very least, halve the debt," the source said. "So you have to crush 3 billion of debt in one way or another."
Spokespeople for Casino and the finance ministry declined to comment.
($1 = 0.9147 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Additional reporting by Chiara Elisei and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Mark Potter)
