In a few weeks, once the proposed acquisitions of France's sixth-largest retailer, Casino, publisher Editis and TechFoundations (the outsourcing division of Atos) are finalized, Daniel Kretinsky will be one of France's leading employers. Some 80,000 people will be working in companies with the Czech businessman as the 100% owner or main shareholder.

His first acquisition in the media sector (Kretinsky is an indirect shareholder of Le Monde) dates back to 2018 with the French weekly Marianne. Then the 2019 purchase of the French operations of the German energy company Uniper, opened the door to France, but these businesses employ only 700 and 400 people respectively.

There's no comparison with Casino supermarkets' 50,000 employees in France. The retailer's French workforce alone is twice that of EPH, Kretinsky's energy group, which made its fortune in coal-fired power stations and has enabled him to make a string of acquisitions across Europe. In addition to the 50,000 employees at Casino, there are 19,000 at the retailer Fnac-Darty, in which Kretinsky holds a 25% stake, 6,000 IT specialists at TechFoundations and 2,500 at Editis.

This new social responsibility in France involves the Czech billionaire far more than if he had remained confined to media and energy. Denis Olivennes, who advises Kretinsky in media and publishing, likes to present his boss as a builder rather than a speculator. To win Casino, Kretinsky – associated with Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière's holding company, Fimalac, for the transaction and with the British fund Attestor – knew that he would have to show his social credentials to appease the Ministry of the Economy and the Saint-Etienne city council (center France), the retailer's birthplace.

"It is out of the question that the group's historic headquarters should be threatened by the takeover, whoever is chosen," Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told lawmakers on July 11, when Xavier Niel (an individual shareholder in Le Monde), Matthieu Pigasse and Moez-Alexandre Zouari were also running to take over Casino. The message was heard. In the agreement signed on July 27, Kretinsky and de Lacharrière undertook to maintain employment in France, keep the 1,500-strong head office in Saint-Etienne, and keep as many hypermarkets and supermarkets as possible.

The minister had a strong argument: to help it overcome its financial difficulties, the French government had granted the distributor a deferral of social security and tax charges in June, totaling around €300 million, for the period from May to September 2023. "This aid will have to be repaid by the buyers," Le Maire said.

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