Latham & Watkins Advises on Signing of Lock-Up Agreement by Casino Group

Latham & Watkins has advised the steering committee of the secured lenders under a €1.4 billion Term Loan B facility borrowed by the Casino Group on the signing of its lock-up agreement relating to its financial restructuring with EP Equity Investment III s.à r.l., an entity controlled by Mr. Daniel Křetínský, Fimalac, Attestor (the consortium), and the company’s secured creditors.

The signing of the lock-up agreement is a continuation of the agreement in principle reached on July 27, 2023, with the consortium and certain secured creditors, and the agreement in principle reached on September 18, 2023, with an ad hoc group of bondholders of Quatrim’s issued notes representing a majority of bondholders.

The financial restructuring agreement provides for an equity injection of €1.2 billion, part of which will be provided by creditors, as well as a reduction of the group's financial indebtedness by €6.1 billion. The Casino Group intends to pursue its discussions with the financial creditors not yet party to the lock-up agreement to obtain their adherence to the latter.

The Latham team was led by Paris restructuring and special situations partner Alexandra Bigot, with counsel Thomas Doyen and associates Célia Jiquel, Hugo Bodkin, and Eeva Bernard. Advice was also provided on finance matters by Paris partner Lionel Dechmann, with associate Aurelien Lorenzi; and on capital markets and corporate matters by Paris partner Thomas Margenet-Baudry, with associate Adrien Levallois. The Latham team also coordinated discussions with all Term Loan B lenders, including certain Term Loan B lenders (outside the steering committee) having entered into the agreement in principle reached back in July.