Businessmen Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Moez-Alexandre Zouari announced on Thursday that they wanted to work on "an industrial and sustainable solution" for the Casino group, after the abandonment of a proposed merger with Teract.

Teract is the result of a merger between the distribution business of agricultural cooperative InVivo and a financial investment vehicle launched by the three businessmen.

In a press release issued on Thursday, the businessmen announced their intention to launch, "acting on their own behalf", an industrial project that would include a strengthening of the group's equity capital and, if necessary, an adaptation of existing debt to Casino's capacities.

"This solution is open to all players interested in participating in the turnaround of a historic player in the retail sector," the statement said.

(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Nicolas Delame)