On line casino confirms research to promote a part of its stake in Assaí

In line with growing rumors over the last week, the French group, which owns 41% of the Brazilian cash and carry chain, said it was seeking a potential sale of part of the shares worth around US$500 million.

Target of a recent series of rumors in the market, the possible sale of a portion of the shares that the French group Casino holds in Assaí, Brazilian chain of cash and carry, gained official airs in the beginning of the night of this Wednesday, 26 of October.

In a relevant fact, Assaí announced that its Board of Directors received a communication from Casino informing that it started studies for a potential sale of part of its stake in the company. Currently, the French group has 41% of the shares of the Brazilian company.

According to the disclosure, the Casino will seek an agreement for an approximate value of US$ 500 million, a figure that could be increased depending on market conditions. For this, the group hired BTG Pactual, Itaú BBA and JP Morgan to analyze the terms of the potential transaction.

Assaí also informed that no final decision has been taken on an eventual agreement in this direction, which would be implemented through a secondary public offering and could be concluded at the end of November, depending on market conditions.

Speculation about this move gained strength at the beginning of last week with the news about market concerns about the worsening of Casino’s leverage problems, a scenario that would place the participation in Assaí as one of the assets to raise funds and remedy the operation.

As part of this process and the plan to raise around €4.5 billion by the end of 2024, one of Casino’s recent initiatives was the sale of GreenYellow, its renewable energy business, to Ardian, also French, in July of this year. , for €600 million.

In this context, Assaí shares closed the trading session on Tuesday, October 18, with a fall of 9.22%. Two days later, the Brazilian network reported its results for the third quarter of 2022. In the period, among other indicators, net revenue grew 29.2%, to R$ 13.8 billion.

Casino shares closed today’s trading in Paris, up 3.58%. Assaí’s shares closed trading on B3 at R$17.08, down 3.45%. In the year, the company’s shares, valued at R$ 22.9 billion, have increased by 31.7%.

Source: Neofeed