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☆ Inside Europe's tech hubs: France's AI push puts it on the rise
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +31 min

Brimming with entrepreneurs and around 1,000 startup companies, it embodies France's exciting tech industry. So if you could rank Europe's tech hubs, what would be your top three? But I'm really excited about Lisbon actually, I know the Mayor of Lisbon pretty well, have been hearing really positive things. I mean things like that could just be completely deprioritized, which is essentially what has been helping us move things forward in France. Under Macron what have been for you the big positives that have come out of his presidency and tech push more broadly.

Persons: Tom Chitty, Roxanne Varza, Bruno Le Maire, Tom Chitty The, you'll, Arjun, I've, Roxanne, Macron, we'd, we've, Tom Chitty Let's, Xavier Niel, he's, Roxanne Varza That's, we're, I'm, Roxanne Varza Paris, Tom Chitty Arjun, Arjun Kharpal, What's, There's, you've, haven't, They're, Roxanne Varza Big, Tom Chitty U.S, Arjun Kharpal It's, who's, that's, there's, they've, we'll, Tom, Tom Chitty We'll Organizations: Meta, Google, CNBC, Uber, Accel, Dealroom, Mistral, Viva Tech, Sequoia Capital, Big Tech, Microsoft, French Finance, London Stock Exchange, London . Locations: Paris, France, French, Europe, beyondthevalley@cnbc.com, London, Berlin, U.S, Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, Bay, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Old, Shoreditch, London . Tel Aviv

☆ The 26-year-old YouTuber conquering French journalism
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Joshua Berlinger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Travers, 26, is the founder and face of HugoDecrypte, a French media start-up that delivers news aimed primarily at young audiences. Travers' daily news round-ups, usually delivered from behind a desk, are very popular among younger French audiences. Joshua Berlinger/CNNThe first concerned the state of political coverage in French media. The HugoDecrypte channel launched with the mission to give young French audiences a fast, digestible way to understand the news. But he and editor-in-chief Aleberteau believe that, wherever there is social media, their model is viable.

Persons: Paris CNN — Hugo Travers, Travers, Le, “, ” Travers, there’s, ”, Alice Antheaume, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Gabriel Attal, Marie Flament, Francois Jost, Joshua Berlinger, Z, Travers ’, pander, “ You’ve, Benjamin Aleberteau, HugoDecrypte, Christopher Nolan, “ Oppenheimer, Omar Sy, Tahar Rahim, Virginie Efira, Jost, “ TikTok, …, it’s, I’m, they’re, Xavier Niel, Vincent Bollore, Rupert Murdoch, Aleberteau, ” Aleberteau Organizations: Paris CNN, YouTube, CNN, Sciences Po Journalism School, Franco, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Democratic, Sciences Po, Reuters Institute, Antheaume Locations: France, French, TikTok, Europe, Paris, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo

☆ This AI startup founded by ex-Googlers just raised $35 million. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck Bioptimus used to land the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bioptimus, a new French AI startup for life sciences, has raised $35 million in seed funding. Founded in 2023, Bioptimus is the brainchild of Jean-Philippe Vert, a former research scientist at Google and recently chief R&D officer at French health AI startup Owkin. The company was formed to capitalize on the enormous potential of AI in biological sciences, Vert told Business Insider. "There is something very special now about AI," Vert said. Owkin, Vert's former employer, is an investor and partner to the startup, as is tech entrepreneur and investor Xavier Niel.

Persons: Bioptimus, Jean, Philippe Vert, Rolophe Jenatton, Xavier Niel Organizations: Google, Business, Sofinnova Partners, Cathay Innovation, Harvest, Fundraising Locations: Owkin

☆ After closed door OpenAI drama, open source AI backed by Nvidia, Eric Schmidt, could emerge winner
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Rebecca Fannin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Hugging Face website on a laptop arranged in New York, US, on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. "We should encourage all companies to build on disruption-proof AI technology that only open source can offer." To be clear, big bets made on open source AI pre-date last Friday when news first broke of Sam Altman's removal as OpenAI CEO, and those bets include an open source AI model controlled by one dominant tech company, Meta Platforms ' Llama. Open source and AI governanceFormer Google CEO Eric Schmidt is behind Mistral AI, another open source rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT. A third open source AI startup, Poolside AI, recently pulled in $126 million co-led by French telecom and internet billionaire Xavier Niel and U.S. VC firm Felicis Ventures.

Persons: Gabby Jones, Eric Schmidt, Sam Altman, Microsoft —, Mike Gualtieri, Forrester, Marc Benioff, Delip Rao, Sam Altman's, Thomas Wolf, We've, Wolf, Linus Torvalds, Paul Drews, OpenAI's, Arthur Mensch, Mistral, Xavier Niel Organizations: Nvidia, Bloomberg, Getty Images Tech, Salesforce, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Twitter, Google, Meta, IBM, Intel, Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Mistral, alums, Lightspeed Venture Partners, French, . VC, Felicis Ventures Locations: New York, France

☆ Ousted OpenAI CEO Altman welcome in France, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, speaks during The Wall Street Journal's WSJ Tech Live Conference in Laguna Beach, California on October 17, 2023. Ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is welcome in France, France's digital minister said in a statement on X, a day after the board of the company behind ChatGPT fired Altman without giving a reason. "Sam Altman, his team and their talents are welcome in France if they want to," Digital Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a statement on X on Saturday. It uses generative AI meaning it can learn from past data to create new content including text, images and computer code. In a video message to tech leaders on Friday, Macron said generative AI has huge potential and that France plans a conference about AI in Paris next year.

Persons: Sam Altman, ChatGPT, Altman, Jean, Noel Barrot, Emmanuel Macron, OpenAI, Macron, Xavier Niel, Rodolphe Saade, Eric Schmidt Organizations: OpenAI, Tech, Conference, Digital, Microsoft, French CMA, CMA, U.S Locations: Laguna Beach , California, France, Europe, Paris, French

Mistral, a tiny AI startup that aims to be Europe's answer to OpenAI, is in discussions to raise a major round of funding that could push its valuation above $2 billion. Its cofounders are in talks with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz to raise further funds, seven sources familiar with proceedings told Insider. Mistral is set to raise around $400 million at a valuation of at least $2 billion, which could rise to as high as $2.5 billion, three sources said. The deal is not yet finalized and the round size, valuation figures, and participants could still change. Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Mistral, Abstract Ventures, and Bezos Expeditions did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Catalyst, Arthur Mensch, Guillaume Lample, Timothée Lacroix, Jeff Bezos, Xavier Niel Organizations: Mistral, Meta, DeepMind, Bezos Expeditions, Amazon, Catalyst, Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners Locations: Paris

☆ Xavier Niel buys Czech investor Kretinsky's stake in Le Monde
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Xavier Niel, founder of French broadband Internet provider Iliad, arrives for a hearing on the concentration of media ownership in the country, at the French Senate in Paris, France, February 18, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies NJJ Presse SASU FollowPARIS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - NJJ Presse, a holding of French telecoms maverick Xavier Niel, has purchased Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's stake in daily Le Monde and committed to transferring this and its existing stake to a fund defending press freedom, it said on Saturday. Finance tycoon Matthieu Pigasse, who had sold part of his stake in Le Monde to Kretinsky, will also put his shares in the fund, NJJ said. The Financial Times had reported shortly before that an agreement was close on a buyout of the shares of the Czech energy magnate, a transaction worth around 50 million euros. ($1 = 0.9388 euros)Reporting by Gilles Guillaume and Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Xavier Niel, Sarah Meyssonnier, Daniel Kretinsky's, NJJ, Matthieu Pigasse, Gilles Guillaume, Sybille de La, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: French, REUTERS, Le Monde, NJJ Presse, NJJ, Fund, Reuters . Finance, Financial Times, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, NJJ, Czech, Le, NJJ Presse

☆ King Charles arrives in France for state visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne greets Britain's King Charles ( and Britain's Queen Camilla upon arrival at the Orly Airport on September 20, 2023, on the first day of a state visit to France. Here's the latest:* The plane carrying Charles and Camilla has landed at Paris' Orly airport, where they were greeted by French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. Charles and Camilla tweeted in English and French, along with a video of Charles getting on the plane. Your Majesty, welcome," Macron tweeted in English, alongside a video clip of Charles' past visits to France. Macron and Charles have in particular shared correspondence and insight on the restoration of the Notre-Dame cathedral, ravaged by fire in 2019.

Persons: Elisabeth Borne, Britain's King Charles, Queen Camilla, MIGUEL MEDINA, King Charles, Emmanuel Macron, Charles, Camilla, Borne, Mireille, Queen Elizabeth, Parisian Marie, Helene Aubree, Eric Frizzi, he's, Macron, À, Louis XIV, Hugh Grant, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Mick Jagger, Ken Follett, Emma Mackey, Bernard Arnault, Xavier Niel, Arsene Wenger, Didier Drogba, Michel Rose, Ingrid Melander, Bernadette Baum Organizations: French, Airport, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, France's, Parisian, European Union, Notre, Dame, of Mirrors, Thomson Locations: France, Paris, Bordeaux, Britain, of Versailles, British, French

☆ Swiss takeover board rules NewGAMe's partial offer for GAM shares complies with rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 31 (Reuters) - Switzerland's takeover board has ruled that a partial offer for up to 28 million shares of GAM Holding (GAMH.S) by an investor group comprising NewGAMe SA and Bruellan SA is in line with Swiss takeover rules, NewGAMe said on Thursday. The arrangement would be also that the investor group would propose new GAM board members at the upcoming extraordinary general meeting (EGM), where the fund manager's current board is expected to stand down. The regulator on Thursday also challenged the validity of the condition making NewGAME's offer conditional to Rock's candidates being elected to GAM's board, NewGAMe said. Last week, a takeover offer from Liontrust won the backing of just 33.64% of GAM's shareholders. ($1 = 0.8830 Swiss francs)Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Arnd, NewGAMe, Xavier Niel's NewGAMe, Liontrust, Kanjyik Ghosh, Maju Samuel Organizations: REUTERS, GAM, NewGAMe SA, Bruellan SA, Swiss, Rock Investment, Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, Thomson Locations: Zurich, Switzerland, Bengaluru

REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsZURICH, Aug 24 (Reuters) - GAM (GAMH.S) has entered into discussions with French billionaire Xavier Niel's NewGAMe shareholder group after a takeover offer from Britain's Liontrust failed to gain the required level of support. "The GAM Board acknowledges that the majority of our shareholders have not found the Liontrust Offer compelling. GAM shares fell 5.08% shortly after market open, whereas Liontrust recorded a 10.37% gain. Liontrust had made its offer conditional on winning the backing of two-thirds of GAM's shareholders in a prospectus it published in June. The investor group, led by Niel's NewGAMe and asset manager Bruellan, have vehemently opposed the all-share offer, saying in July that it "grossly undervalues GAM".

Persons: Arnd, Xavier Niel's, Britain's Liontrust, Liontrust, GAM's, David Jacob, Niel's NewGAMe, Bruellan, Brenna Hughes, Friederike Heine, Jason Neely, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, GAM, Thomson Locations: Zurich, Switzerland, British, Liontrust

☆ GAM’s end game still has a way to go
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Aug 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - GAM’s (GAMH.S) long-running takeover saga has entered a critical phase. The ball is now with the opposing shareholders, which control nearly 10% of the asset manager. The NewGAMe crowd has proposed issuing a 25 million Swiss franc convertible bond to give GAM some breathing space. But this won’t cover expected losses, restructuring charges and pension costs amounting to at least 100 million Swiss francs, GAM has calculated. As things stand, to win the game of rescuing this embattled asset manager, investors will have to dig deep.

Persons: Xavier Niel, Sarah Meyssonnier, NewGAMe’s, Lisa Jucca, Coinbase’s, Aimee Donnellan, Streisand Neto Organizations: French, REUTERS, Reuters, Management, GAM, X, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, French, Ukraine

☆ GAM shareholder group demands date change for extraordinary general meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Investors in Swiss asset manager GAM Holding (GAMH.S) have asked for the company's extraordinary general meeting - which could remove its chairman and board - to be delayed. The investor group, which controls roughly 9.6% of GAM shares, wants the EGM to be delayed until August 31, so shareholders can vote knowing the outcome of Liontrust's offer. The deadline for Liontrust's offer has been extended three times from the original date of July 25. The offer has been recommended by GAM's board, which triggered calls by some shareholders to remove chairman David Jacob and his board at an EGM. Some investors have opposed the all-share offer, saying in July that it "grossly undervalues GAM" and want to turn GAM around rather than selling.

Persons: Xavier Niel, Liontrust, David Jacob, John Revill, Miranda Murray Organizations: GAM, Thomson Locations: ZURICH, Swiss

☆ Altice’s beaten-up debt is only a bet for the bold
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Violeta Santos MouraLONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Altice’s debt is a bet for the bold. Patrick Drahi’s telecoms group is sitting on a $60 billion debt burden, and faces rising borrowing costs and a corruption investigation. Drahi will therefore need to sell assets to cut debt, which starts to come due in 2025. Both Altice France and Altice International are trying to sell their data centre businesses, which could raise some 700 million euros, bankers say. Yet Altice France alone has some $19 billion of debt coming due by 2029.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Violeta Santos Moura, Patrick Drahi’s, Drahi –, Armando Pereira, Altice, Drahi, “, ”, Pereira, Xavier Niel’s, Manuel Magalhaes e Silva, Altice International’s, Alexandre Fonseca, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: French, REUTERS, Violeta Santos Moura LONDON, Reuters, Altice USA, Altice, Bouygues Telecom, Banco Espírito Santo, Public, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Moroccan, Europe, United States, Portugal, Israel, Dominican Republic, Orange, Altice France, Banco Espírito, Portuguese, New York, London

☆ Ambani’s finance unit gets credit before it’s due
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, July 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Mukesh Ambani’s capacity to disrupt India’s $2 trillion small loans market is fully priced in. It’s a big endorsement, considering the lending company starts with a tiny $244 million loan portfolio as of March 2022. Ambani will have his task cut out to deliver on expectations, despite a reputation for upending industries from telecoms to retail. The $155 billion HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS), freshly merged with its mortgage financier parent, will chase the latter’s customers with renewed vigour. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Mukesh, Ambani, It’s, Jio, Shritama Bose, whir, Xavier Niel’s, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Twitter, Xavier Niel’s GAM, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI

☆ Thailand’s political drama raises the stakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, July 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investors in Thailand are long used to twists and turns in the country’s politics but a court’s move on Wednesday to suspend the leader of the election-winning Move Forward Party as a lawmaker has raised the stakes. Pita Limjaroenrat's supporters are protesting as it’s now unlikely that the liberal and would-be aggressive reformer of the underperforming $500 billion economy will become the prime minister. It’s not a good outcome, however. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Pita Limjaroenrat's, Pita, It’s, It's, whir, Xavier Niel’s, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Investors, Party, SETI, Gulf Energy, Asian Development Bank, Twitter, Xavier Niel’s GAM, Commonwealth Games, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Thailand, Asia

☆ Next Gucci CEO may have toughest job in luxury
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Gucci is getting a new look. Gucci took a harder hit during the pandemic than some mega-brand rivals, then struggled to bounce back. That’s way below the 10% and 15% rise brokers are pencilling in for Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior (DIOR.PA) respectively. All of that makes Gucci CEO job one of the most interesting in the luxury sector – but also possibly the toughest. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Gucci, Marco Bizzarri, Jean, François, Kering’s, Bizzarri, Roberto Eggs, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Karen Kwok, Xavier Niel’s, Liam Proud, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Tuesday, Gucci, JPMorgan, Revenue, Alpha, Louis, Hermès, Barclays, Bain & Company, Twitter, Xavier Niel’s GAM, Commonwealth Games, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italian, Kering’s Paris, China, People’s Republic

☆ Netflix’s cash gun starts to whir
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, July 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Netflix (NFLX.O) is putting out some programming worthy of more eyeballs. But its forecast on free cash flow – once a horror flick– shows that the business is only getting stronger. The revenue outlook for the third quarter of $8.5 billion is below analysts’ estimates of $8.7 billion, according to Refinitiv. Netflix raised its outlook for free cash flow this year to at least $5 billion from approximately $3.5 billion. At a time when high interest rates make greenbacks more expensive, and competitors Walt Disney (DIS.N) and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) are squirming, Netflix’s cash story is one to watch.

Persons: Reed Hastings, Walt Disney, Jennifer Saba, Gucci, Xavier Niel’s, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Netflix, Hollywood, Warner Bros Discovery, Twitter, Xavier Niel’s GAM, Commonwealth Games, Thomson

☆ Novartis buyback offers partial cure for M&A risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Novartis’s (NOVN.S) bumper buyback will offer a little relief to investors. Many had been waiting to see what the $225 billion Swiss pharma giant would do with an extra $20 billion burning a hole in its pocket after Roche(ROG.S) bought back its stake in 2021. It needs new drugs to replenish its pipeline and boost an ailing share price, which has still not recovered since the pandemic. But on Tuesday, CEO Vasant Narasimhan said he will launch a $15 billion buyback programme. The Swiss drugmaker’s $15.4 billion of net debt is less than 1 times its forecast 2023 EBITDA, according to Refinitiv.

Persons: Roche, Vasant Narasimhan, can’t, Aimee Donnellan, Xavier Niel’s, Neil Unmack, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Swiss pharma, Alcon, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Twitter, Xavier Niel’s GAM, Commonwealth Games, Thomson Locations: Swiss

☆ Meme investors could spoil AMC’s next act
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMC is already fighting another lawsuit over its attempt to convert preferred stock into common shares, a novel scheme to avoid getting investors’ approval for share sales. It fits with other forays since AMC became a retail-favorite meme stock – like buying into a gold miner – that seem to disregard conventional governance niceties. Attracting a rush of retail traders means there are plenty of investors to call foul. If their push against the preferred stock gambit succeeds, AMC could struggle to raise new funds, which bodes poorly for repaying its $5 billion in debt. It turns out that, for a meme stock’s final act, the audience starts throwing tomatoes.

Persons: Adam Aron, Kevin Barnes, Barnes ’, Anita Ramaswamy, Xavier Niel’s, Jonathan Guilford, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, AMC, Twitter, Xavier Niel’s GAM, Commonwealth Games, Thomson

☆ Xavier Niel’s GAM raid looks less quixotic
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NewGAMe, whose backers include telecoms mogul Xavier Niel and Swiss wealth manager Bruellan, launched a tender offer for just under 18% of GAM’s shares. Liontrust’s offer looked like the least bad option for GAM, which is losing money as its assets have more than halved since 2018 to 68 billion Swiss francs. And at least one other investor, with 6.5%, has said it won’t accept Liontrust’s offer. That means Liontrust will probably struggle to get to the two-thirds vote it would need to take over GAM. But GAM also has over 2 billion Swiss francs of tax losses to carry forward, lowering any future tax burden.

Persons: Xavier Niel, Bruellan, NewGAMe, Neil Unmack, Aimee Donnellan, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, GAM, Liontrust Asset Management, Twitter, Commonwealth Games, Cathay, Thomson Locations: Swiss

It leaves Kretinsky, who submitted a revised offer over the weekend proposing the equity injection, as the only bidder. The cash injection plan would lead to a 4.7 billion-euro reduction in overall debt, Casino said. Casino is saddled with net debt of 6.4 billion euros and is teetering on the brink of default. The board meeting followed a separate meeting between Casino's creditors and CIRI - France's finance ministry body that helps distressed companies and their creditors draw up restructuring plans. Kretinsky and Ladreit de Lacharriere would control the investment vehicle behind the 1.2 billion-euro equity injection, a source said.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Kretinsky's, Xavier Niel, Jean, Charles Naouri, Kretinsky, Niel, Matthieu Pigasse, Moez, Alexandre Zouari, Casino, Marc Ladreit de, Ladreit, Mathieu Rosemain, Mike Harrison, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Casino, 3F, Attestor, French, Monde, Fnac, Metro, Forbes, Thomson Locations: Czech, PARIS, French, Paris, Casino, Britain, France, Germany

☆ Czech billionaire Kretinsky closes in on Casino after 3F abandons bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kretinsky has been vying to take control of Casino against the 3F Holding group, led by telecoms entrepreneur Xavier Niel, investment banker Matthieu Pigasse and businessman Moez-Alexandre Zouari. The group is saddled with net debt of 6.4 billion euros ($7.1 billion) and is teetering on the brink of default. "Today, after months of work, 3F has decided to not submit an offer," 3F said in a statement. Along with Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière’s Fimalac, he would inject 1.2 billion euros ($1.35 billion) in equity to take a 53% stake in France's sixth-largest retailer. The bidders would also convert 4.9 billion euros of debt into equity.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Kretinsky, Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse, Moez, Alexandre Zouari, 3F's, Marc Ladreit de, Fimalac, Casino, John Irish, David Holmes, Emelia Organizations: Casino, 3F, Attestor, Financial, Global Commerce, Financial Times, Thomson Locations: Czech, France's, Casino

☆ Cora strengthens Carrefour’s inflation defences
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Carrefour’s (CARR.PA) 1 billion euros acquisition of smaller rival Cora could be seen as a consequence of the French group’s ability to navigate rocketing inflation. It will give the combined company a near 23% share of the fragmented and competitive French market, consolidating Carrefour’s leadership on its home turf. Five years ago, Carrefour and Casino had begun tentative talks for a possible merger that ultimately collapsed. If anything, Cora’s acquisition will make Carrefour a more attractive target. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Cora, Daniel Kretinsky, Xavier Niel ., Pierre Briançon, Aimee Donnellan, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Carrefour, Casino, Twitter, Thomson Locations: French, France

☆ Kretinsky to install former Metro and Lactalis exec at Casino if offer succeeds, Les Echos reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, July 9 (Reuters) - Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and his partners are prepared to hire former Metro (B4B.DE) and Lactalis executive Philippe Palazzi as the new boss of French supermarket chain Casino (CASP.PA), should their refinancing offer for the debt-laden company succeed, Les Echos reported on Sunday. Kretinsky could not immediately be reached for comment outside working hours. Kretinsky's offer is valid until Monday. It faces a rivalling offer led by telecoms maverick Xavier Niel, investment banker Matthieu Pigasse and businessman Moez-Alexandre Zouari, which Casino said had also been extended to the same day. Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Philippe Palazzi, Les Echos, Kretinsky, Palazzi, Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse, Moez, Alexandre Zouari, Tassilo Hummel, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Metro, LinkedIn, Thomson Locations: Czech

☆ Casino extends creditors’ losing streak
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Casino had previously hinted that it was seeking to restructure the unsecured portion of its debt, worth around 3.6 billion euros, implying that the remaining 4 billion euros of secured debt would remain intact. That implies borrowings of less than 2.7 billion euros, based on analysts’ forecasts compiled by Refinitiv. As a result, between 1 and 1.5 billion euros of the secured debt may also be converted into equity. Casino reckons it needs at least 900 million euros of new money to finance the company’s business plan in the next few years. The winner, who will be the group’s largest shareholder, will then determine whether they can end Casino’s losing streak.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Xavier Niel, Pierre Briancon, crouch, Eli Lilly, Peter Thal Larsen, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Casino, Refinitiv, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Czech

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