POLAND: Casino sells Polish operations

rench retailer Groupe Casino has sold a major part of its Polish property portfolio, comprising 16 hypermarkets, to GE Real Estate Central Europe for EUR555m (US$714m), in a sale and leaseback deal. GE agreed a ten-year lease on each of the 16 properties.

In addition, Casino has sold its Géant hypermarket business in Poland to the German retail group Metro Group, a deal which remains subject to approval by Metro shareholders.

The move follows Casino’s sale of its Leader Price supermarket chain in the country to UK supermarket operator Tesco last month, in a deal worth GBP72m (US$137.2m).

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