(FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 2/8/16) 
   By Nick Kostov in Paris and P.R. Venkat in Singapore 

Groupe Casino SA has agreed to sell its stake in Thai hypermarket operator Big C Supercenter PLC for 3.1 billion euros ($3.46 billion) to a Thai billionaire, marking a step in the French grocer's plans to cut its debt.

Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's holding company, TCC Group, will buy Casino's 58.6% stake in Big C Thailand for 252.88 baht ($7.11) a share, the company said on Sunday, confirming an earlier report. At that price, Mr. Charoen's offer values Big C close to $5.86 billion.

The sale is a step in Casino's attempts to reduce its debt. The retailer launched a 4 billion euro deleveraging plan in 2016 that includes selling its stake in the Thai supermarket as well as Vietnam retail assets. Ratings firm Standard & Poor's in January put the French retailer's debt on "negative watch" for a possible downgrade to junk status, citing concerns over weakness in Brazil and the retailer's debt.

The sale, expected to close by March 31, will allow Casino to reduce its debt level by 3.3 billion euros when Big C's debt is included, the company said.

Casino makes around 40% of its sales in Latin America, where a prolonged recession in Brazil has led to falling sales and declining profitability. Management remains bullish on Brazil, but the slowdown has made it more difficult for Casino to support the same level of debt.

In December, the grocer revealed plans to sell its Vietnamese retail operation and some of its real estate holdings in Colombia -- sales of which are ongoing.

During the sale of its Vietnam unit, Casino received a number of expressions of interest for its larger Thai unit and decided to sell that asset as well. Thailand's largest retail conglomerate Central Group, which owns about a quarter of Big C Thailand, lost out in the bidding for Casino's stake, people familiar with the process said.

Last month, Mr. Charoen's TCC Group closed a 655 million euro acquisition of Metro's cash & carry wholesale business in Vietnam.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2016 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)