French retailer Casino Group to sell 55 Monoprix retail sites for €565m

French retailer Casino Group has agreed to sell 55 real estate assets of its Monoprix chain for €565m ($651.53m) to an unnamed institutional investor.

This deal is a part of the retailer’s ongoing €1.5bn disposal plan, which involves non-core assets, including real estate assets.

The plan was announced in June this year and aims to enable the company to reduce its net debt and strengthen its liquidity position.

The Monoprix deal covers real estates of the supermarket chain, including 19 locations in Paris region. The transaction value also covers an annual rent of €27m ($31.13m).

According to the company, it will receive the proceeds from the acquisition no later than 27 December 2018.

In a statement, the company said: “Including the disposal of 15% of Mercialys via a TRS, the operations realised within the deleveraging plan amount to €778m to date.”

“Moreover, Casino Group has already received additional indicative offers on other assets that are included in the disposal plan, which could materialise before the end of the year.”

“Continued good operational performance and the progressive roll-out of new profitability levers will enable Casino Group to improve its retail trading profit in France in 2019 at a similar pace to 2018, including the effects of additional rents.”

Based in France, Monoprix offers a range of food products along with beauty, fashion and home products across its stores.

The retailer currently operates 316 stores in France and globally across Tunisia, Mauritius, Libya, Qatar, Luxembourg, Lebanon and Martinique Island.