Groupe Casino was one of France's largest supermarket chains. Under Jean-Charles Naouri, who controlled it through holding company Rallye since 1992, the company pursued an aggressive expansion strategy funded by debt. Casino acquired Monoprix, Franprix, Leader Price and expanded into Latin America. The debt piled up year after year as the company took on more leverage to fund each acquisition.
By 2023 the debt was unsustainable. Casino had €6.4 billion in total liabilities and was losing money in its core French market. Operating losses reached €233 million in the first half of 2023 alone, and French cash flow turned negative at €1.6 billion. The company's stock fell 99% from its peak. Naouri was forced to seek a restructuring deal with creditors.
In March 2024, a consortium led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky took control of Casino through a €1.2 billion capital injection and a €4.9 billion debt-for-equity swap. The restructuring was the largest in Europe that year. Naouri, who had controlled the company for 32 years, lost everything. Casino survived but its founder was gone.
Naouri used debt to buy chains, but the debt bought the company: a €1.2B injection and €4.9B swap handed control to Kretinsky, erasing the founder's 32-year stake.
Naouri treated debt as a permanent growth tool, using it to acquire competitors without a plan to repay — the leverage worked in good years and became fatal when margins tightened.
Casino's acquisitions were funded at the holding company level, creating a structure where debt service consumed cash that should have gone into the stores.
The founder's control through Rallye meant no board or shareholder could challenge the strategy until it was too late — the company was already insolvent before anyone could intervene.
Debt is not a growth strategy — it is a lease on future earnings, and when the earnings do not arrive, the owner does not survive the restructuring.
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