Paris (France) (AFP) – The Plesio group, formerly Casino, announced on Tuesday that it had reached an “agreement in principle” with its main shareholder, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, and its creditors concerning the restructuring of its debt, after almost a year of negotiations in this direction.

Published on: 10/11/2026 - 09:20

The Saint-Etienne distributor was unable to repay 1.4 billion euros of debt in March 2027, an amount that the agreement plans to reduce to 800 million euros, spread over five years, in exchange for a capital increase of 390 million by France Retail Holdings (FRH), its main shareholder majority owned by Mr. Kretinsky, according to a press release.

Renamed Plesio in October, the group with seven brands (Casino, Monoprix, Franprix, Naturalia, Vival, Spar and CDiscount) recorded a turnover of 1.9 billion euros in the third quarter, down 2.7% year-on-year.

This decline is linked in particular to the "cleaning up" of its store network (exit of certain points of sale) and the sharp decline in clothing sales which affected its flagship Monoprix in September, linked to the extreme heat.

Excluding this scope effect, its sales were almost stable (+0.3%).

Over the first nine months of 2026, its adjusted gross operating surplus (Ebitda, a profitability indicator) increased by 9.3%.

Unveiled on Tuesday, the agreement on the "strengthening of the financial structure" of Plesio, the completion of which is expected by the end of March 2027, "validates what we have accomplished and above all will strengthen what we want to build", welcomed its general director, Philippe Palazzi, during a press briefing, praising "the start of a new chapter".

The agreement provides, in addition to the crushing of 610 million euros of debt, a reduction in interest rates which were penalizing the group, of which FRH will remain the majority shareholder, "support for the current management", the continuation of the "Renewal 2030" business plan and "support for the current management team", according to the press release.

Plesio had twice postponed the publication of its quarterly results, initially scheduled for Friday, while discussions on this agreement continued.

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© 2026 AFP

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