Casino, Guichard-Perrachon S.A. (CGUIF)

Analysts sceptical as Casino opens talks with Teract

Casino's preliminary talks with Teract to combine their French retail activities perplexes some analysts, who say a deal wouldn't address the supermarket group's urgent need to slash debt. Casino, controlled by 73-year-old Jean-Charles Naouri, faces a wall of debt, starting with about 1.3 billion euros ($1.42 billion) of secured and unsecured bonds due next year for French activities, according to credit rating firm S&P. It recently cut its rating for Casino, highlighting the company's need "to fix the current cash burn." Naouri has pledged to sell 4.5 billion euros' worth of assets at Casino - owner of the Monoprix, Franprix and Naturalia brands - by the end of this year, 90% of which had already been completed by last October.