Casino postpones Laurus call option again

French retailer Casino said it has postponed the beginning of the exercise period of its call option on shares held by banks in Dutch food retailer Laurus, this time by six months. This means that Casino is yet again not using its right to take a majority share in the embattled Dutch retailer.

The beginning of the call option on the Laurus shares currently held by the banks ING, Rabobank and ABN Amro, is now set on January 1, 2008. Exercising this call option would allow Casino to raise its stake in Laurus to 51.2 per cent (now it has 45 per cent of Laurus).

This is the second time Casino delays the call option which was initially scheduled to start on January 1, 2006. Late 2005 however, Casino and the three banks agreed on postponing this by 18 months to July 1, 2007.