The Casino group retains the exploitation of Leader Price master franchises internationally.
The sale by Casino of Leader Price to Aldi France was confirmed after several months of negotiations. Aldi France acquired 545 Leader Price stores (out of 640), two Casino supermarkets and three warehouses located in mainland France for a value of 717 million euros. The first stage of the agreement was signed last March, during the first confinement. The Competition Authority then gave the green light, in mid-November, the repurchase of these assets by the German group Aldi from Casino. The finalization and formalization of this agreement are a strong signal of optimism for the food and retail sectors more broadly, particularly exposed since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. With more than 1,400 stores and more than 16,000 employees in France, this transaction allows Aldi to become a major player in discount retail on the French market, as it is already in Germany. However, this change does not concern the Leader Price stores in Réunion operated under a master franchise by the Caillé group.. The Casino group in fact retains the operation, in mainland France, 89 franchised stores under the Leader Price brand, and apart from 118 master franchise stores, among which establishments in Italy, from Belgium and the Indian Ocean.
