France's Casino Group has announced that its subsidiary Franprix and the Zouari Family have decided to extend their long-standing strategic partnership.
The collaboration will boost existing operations and create new synergies as the partners plan to open 75 new stores.
Jean-Charles Naouri, chairman and CEO of Casino Group, said, “Its early renewal will enable the group to further accelerate the roll-out of the high-growth Franprix formats in urban and suburban areas. The new stores will join the 1,000 existing Franprix stores.”
Zouari Family
Zouari Family Office is a specialist in the convenience store format and precision commerce.
It is the main shareholder in Picard, the French leader in frozen food with 1,100 stores, and has expanded into the non-food sector with the acquisitions of discount banners Stokomani and Maxi Bazar.
Moez-Alexandre Zouari, chairman of the Zouari Family Office, added, "Twenty-five years ago, we jointly created Pro Distribution, in the firm belief that the convenience store format was promising, resilient and innovative. And still today, the format is meeting a genuine need among consumers.
"With our experience and expertise in the convenience format, our ambition is to accelerate our development and expansion plan for the years to come. We look forward to continuing the momentum with Casino Group."
Regulatory Approvals For GreenYellow Deal
Elsewhere, Casino Group has obtained antitrust and foreign investment approvals for the sale of energy business GreenYellow.
Casino Group, Tikehau and Bpifrance have entered into an agreement with Ardian for the sale of a majority stake in GreenYellow, following a consultation process with employee representative bodies.
The transaction, which values GreenYellow’s equity at €1.1 billion, is expected to close on 18 October 2022.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
