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Jean-Charles Naouri (born March 8, 1949 in Bône (now Annaba), Algeria) is a French businessman. He is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder of Groupe Casino.^[1]

Rallye in turn is controlled by Fonciere Euris, Finatis and Euris, all in the hands of Casino chairman and CEO Naouri. Under the safeguard procedure the servicing of bank and bond debt is suspended while the group works on a plan to reorganise its debt and potentially reschedule it up to 10 years. Casino Chairman and Chief Executive Naouri in May placed the retailer’s parent companies Rallye, Finatis and Fonciere Euris under protection from creditors in a bid to save the group from collapse.

Education[edit]

Naouri received his baccalaureat degree at only 15 years old. He then studied in classes préparatoires at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand before entering the École Normale Supérieure in 1967. He also attended Harvard University, before returning in France and completing a PhD in Mathematics in only one year. He is also an alumnus of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (1974-1976).^[2]

Early career[edit]

Civil servant[edit]

After graduating from ENA in 1976, Jean-Charles Naouri joined the Inspection générale des finances (France), the auditing and supervisory body of the French Administration. From 1982 to 1986, he served as chief of staff for Pierre Bérégovoy, both at the Ministry of Social Affairs and National Solidarity and the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Budget.^[3] During this period, he was the architect of the reforms implemented in the French financial markets, which included the creation of the MATIF futures and MONEP options markets and the introduction of certificates of deposit and commercial paper. In particular, he helped drive the financial market liberalization with measures to ease currency controls and eliminate credit restrictions.

Rothschild & Cie Banque[edit]

Naouri Casino Rallye Casino

In 1987, Jean-Charles Naouri left government service and joined Rothschild & Cie Banque as Managing Partner.^[4] Around the same time, he established his own investment fund, Euris, which acquired minority equity investments in industrial companies, while increasing its investment capabilities.

Global retailing[edit]

Rallye[edit]

In the early 1990s, Jean-Charles Naouri shifted his investment strategy from opportunistic to acquiring strategic stakes. As part of this new strategy, in 1991 he acquired the Brittany-based retailer Rallye, which at the time was facing serious cash flow issues/challenges. Convinced of the future potential for retailing and the benefits of combining the two companies, in 1992 he engineered a merger of Rallye with Groupe Casino, thereby becoming Groupe Casino's largest shareholder.

Groupe Casino[edit]

In 1997, a hostile takeover bid for Groupe Casino by rival retailer Promodès^[5] was thwarted by the successful counter offer ^[6] from Jean-Charles Naouri, the Guichard family and Casino management, thereby maintaining the Group's independence.

In March 2005, Jean-Charles Naouri became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Casino Group,^[7] leading a substantial transformation of the retailer's profile by disposing of underperforming business segments in Poland, the United States, Taiwan and the Netherlands and strengthening the Group's presence in fast-growing markets. This made Casino the leading food retailer in South America (especially Brazil and Colombia), the Indian Ocean and Vietnam and the second largest in Thailand.

In France, Jean-Charles Naouri has refocused French operations in the convenience format segment, Groupe Casino's core business, and also positioned Casino in the discount segment by developing the Leader Price chain and the Cdiscount e-commerce website acquired in 2000.

In 2012, Groupe Casino acquired a controlling interest in Brazilian retailer Pão de Açúcar, the country's largest private-sector employer.^[8] The Group also purchased the 50% of French retailer Monoprix, which it did not already own, becoming the sole shareholder.^[9]

Social responsibility commitment[edit]

In addition to his business activities, Jean-Charles Naouri is also the founder of the Euris Foundation, which he created in 2000. Each year, the Foundation grants 40 scholarships to promising high school graduates from impoverished neighbourhoods in France.^[10]

He is also Vice Chairman of the Groupe Casino corporate foundation, which he founded in 2009 to improve access to culture and knowledge for children who are disadvantaged or suffering from illness.In addition, he is Honorary Chairman and Trustee of Ecole Normale Supérieure's Institut d’Expertise et de Prospective,^[11] which is responsible for developing ties between the school and the corporate world.

In June 2013, Jean-Charles Naouri was appointed by France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be a special representative for Economic relations with Brazil.^[12]

Positions[edit]

• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Casino, a listed company
• Chairman of the Board of Cnova N.V.
• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Euris
• Chairman of Rallye, a listed company
• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao (CBD), a listed company
• Vice-Chairman of the Casino Group Corporate Foundation
• CEO of Casino Finance
• Chairman of the Euris Foundation

Other positions[edit]

• Board Member of Financière Marc de Lacharrière (FIMALAC)
• Member of the Advisory Committee of Banque de France
• Chairman of Association Promotion des Talents, a non-profit organisation
• Honorary Chairman and Director of Institut d’Expertise et de Prospective (Ecole Normale Supérieure)

Net worth[edit]

In 2015, Jean-Charles Naouri was ranked by Forbes Magazine as being worth $1.2 billion dollars. ^[13]

References[edit]

1. ^Jean Charles Naouri - Executive profile, Bloomberg Businessweek]
2. ^Jean-Charles Naouri - Brief biography, Reuters
3. ^Casino indiser : Jean-Charles Naouri, Macroaxis
4. ^Bookish Frenchman becomes Brazil retail kingpin, Chicago Tribune,June 21, 2013
5. ^French Grocery Chain Raises Hostile Bid, the New York Times, September 26, 1997
6. ^Casino Guichard-Perrachon S.A. History, Funding Universe
7. ^Jean-Charles Naouri becomes CEO of Casino, Retail Analysis, March 24, 2005
8. ^Casino to Become Sole Controller of Brazil’s Pao de Acucar, Bloomberg, May 15, 2012
9. ^Dean Best, Casino's Monoprix acquisition cleared, Just Food, July 10, 2013
10. ^L'excellence des lycéens défavorisés récompensée, Le Figaro, October 22, 2010
11. ^Jean-Charles Naouri est nommé président de l'Institut d'expertise et de prospective de l'Ecole normale supérieure, Les Echos, January 22, 2001
12. ^Jean-Charles Naouri appointed special representative for economic relations with Brazil, International supermarket news, August 21, 2013
13. ^https://www.forbes.com/profile/jean-charles-naouri/#120ea9854bd9

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

In the context of the financial markets developments relating to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic, Jean-Charles Naouri and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière announce the conclusion of an agreement in view of the refinancing of the derivatives transactions of Rallye (Paris:RAL) (including its subsidiaries HMB and Cobivia) and a potential investment by Fimalac in the Euris group.

1. Refinancing of the derivatives transactions

Pursuant to this agreement, Fimalac has undertaken to provide a financing facility with a maturity of 4 years (with a one-year extension subject to Fimalac’s agreement) either to a subsidiary of Euris until 31 December 2020, or to Rallye at the latest on 5 January 2021, in order to allow the repayment of all derivatives transactions entered into by Rallye, HMB, and Cobivia, which are not covered by the safeguard plans of such companies but have been the subject of specific agreements (see Rallye's press release dated 25 November 2019). The maximum amount of this facility is 215 million euros.

Pursuant to these specific agreements, the financial institutions parties to the derivatives transactions may, if applicable, trigger the early repayment of the derivatives transactions or demand payment of their claims under the derivatives transactions and exercise the related security interests¹, notably in case of non-compliance with a coverage ratio determined as a certain proportion calculated as the value of the Casino shares pledged as collateral under the derivatives transactions as compared to the notional amount of such derivatives transactions (net of cash-collateral).

In this unprecedented context, it cannot be excluded that the abovementioned coverage ratio may not be complied with, which could result in the loss for Rallye of 8.73 % of Casino’s share capital (as of the date of this press release). The Euris group therefore decided to protect itself against this risk, in order to preserve the integrity of the group necessary to enforce the safeguard plans approved by the Paris Commercial Court (see press releases of the relevant companies dated 2 March 2020).

Therefore, should the involved financial institutions exercise the share pledges and appropriate the Casino shares pledged to their benefit (i.e. approximately 8.73% of Casino's share capital), Fimalac² has undertaken to finance Par-Bel 2³ so that Par-Bel 2 is able to offer a liquidity to the relevant financial institutions which would have appropriated Casino shares. In such case, the repurchased shares would be directly transferred to a fiduciary trust (fiducie-sûreté) for the benefit of Fimalac as a guarantee of the financing facility granted to Par-Bel 2.

For this purpose, Rallye, HMB, Cobivia and the relevant financial institutions entered into amendments to the agreements restructuring their derivatives transactions.

In the event that the financing facility granted by Fimalac to Par-Bel 2 is not drawn down before 31 December 2020, Fimalac would grant a financing facility to Rallye, on first demand by Rallye and at the latest on 5 January 2021, in terms identical to those of the Par-Bel 2 facility in order to allow Rallye to proceed with the repayment of its derivatives transactions. The maximum amount of this facility with a maturity of 4 years (with a one-year extension subject to Fimalac’s agreement) is 215 million euros. The drawdown of the facility remains subject to the execution of a fiduciary trust agreement.

The early repayment events under the facility are customary for such type of financing, the main events being set out below:

– occurrence of an event leading to Jean-Charles Naouri no longer holding at least 50% of the voting rights of Casino, plus one vote; and

– rescission (résolution) of the safeguard plan of Rallye.

2. Fimalac's potential investment in Euris

For a period of seven years, Fimalac may decide to invest in Euris up to 49.99% through a new holding company, which (i) would be owned by Jean-Charles Naouri and his family and (ii) will control Euris.

Naouri Casino Rallye Entertainment

Finally, Jean-Charles Naouri will propose to the Board of directors of Casino, Guichard Perrachon to submit to the next general meeting of shareholders a resolution in view of the appointment of a representative of Fimalac to the Board of directors of Casino. Indeed, Fimalac holds 2.8 million Casino shares accounting for 2.6% of the share capital.

***

Naouri Casino Rallye Bingo

With this new transaction, Fimalac intends to take part in the support and development of the Casino group.