Casino announced on Wednesday that it had reached agreements with Auchan Retail and Groupement Les Mousquetaires, parent company of Intermarché, to sell its supermarkets and hypermarkets in France.

These agreements provide for the sale of 288 stores (and the service stations attached to the stores), based on an enterprise value of between 1.3 and 1.35 billion euros, Casino said in a press release.

In December, the Saint-Etienne-based retail group announced the opening of exclusive negotiations with Auchan Retail and Groupement Les Mousquetaires to discuss the takeover of its supermarkets and hypermarkets, which are experiencing major difficulties.

The deal, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter, calls for the stores to be transferred in three successive waves: on April 30, May 31 and July 1.

Auchan and Groupement Les Mousquetaires have undertaken to take over all the employment contracts of the employees concerned, according to Casino.

The sale of Casino's supermarkets and hypermarkets is part of a major restructuring of the group, which is in serious financial difficulty.

Earlier this month, Casino's shareholders and creditors gave the go-ahead for a rescue plan that will put an end to Jean-Charles Naouri's thirty-year reign over the company, which he controlled via his holding company Rallye.

Casino is due to be taken over this year by a new management team led by Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky.

(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Zhifan Liu)