Casino announced on Friday that the Dutch courts had granted it an exemption from the obligation to file a draft public offer for its online retail subsidiary, Cnova.

The retailer - which also states that it is speaking on behalf of France Retail Holdings (FRH), the holding company of its new reference shareholder Daniel Kretinsky - specifies that the decision of the Companies Chamber of the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is conditional on the launch, within the next four months, of a compulsory buyout procedure.

According to the court, this operation must be carried out at a price at least equal to that which FRH would have had to offer in the context of a compulsory takeover bid for Cnova.

It is specified that Casino would be obliged to file a compulsory takeover bid for Cnova if it did not initiate a compulsory buyout or if the Chamber of Enterprises rejected its request for a compulsory buyout.

As of December 31, 2023, Casino controlled 98.8% of Cnova's capital, with a free float of just 1%.

At around 9:30 a.m., Casino shares were unchanged or virtually unchanged on the Paris Bourse.

Cnova shares were reserved on the downside, having opened down more than 10%.

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