The setbacks of Casino, riddled with debt and destined to change shareholders, have whetted the appetite of Auchan, the other sick of distribution in France. Since the failure of its attempts to marry Systeme U in 2015, then with Carrefour in 2021, the northern retailer has been looking for a major operation that allows it to depend less on its French hypermarkets, whose operational difficulties have plagued its accounts for several years. According to our information, the Mulliez family has proposed to Daniel Kretinsky to merge Auchan France (as well as its real estate Ceetrus) with the Casino group. It is Philippe Brochard, the new boss of Auchan France, who is at the maneuver in this sensitive file.
Such a marriage would create a group of 40 billion euros in turnover, with 15% market share, which would follow Intermarché (16.2% market share), the third largest player in distribution in France behind Carrefour (19.7%) and Leclerc (23.2%). It would benefit from...
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