PARIS, Nov 28 (Reuters) – French supermarket retailer Casino (CASP.PA) said on Monday it had launched a stake sale in Brazilian cash-and-carry chain Assai (ASAI3.SA) as part of its general debt-cutting plans.
Casino said it was selling 140.8 million shares in Assai, representing 10.4% of the company’s share capital, and that it could sell a further 3.7% of Assai later.
Based on Assai’s closing share price of 19.21 Brazilian real ($3.55) on Nov. 25, the sale of 140.8 million shares would be worth 2.7 billion reals ($499 million).
Casino said the Assai share sale would take the form of a secondary public offering.
($1 = 5.4098 reais)
Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Subhranshu Sahu
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