Press

France’s leading e-commerce company, Cdiscount has won over French customers with its innovative, wide-ranging product assortment and the lowest prices in the market.

Following the launch of new Cdiscount websites in Brazil, Thailand, Vietnam, Colombia, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Belgium, Cnova N.V. (part of Groupe Casino) continues its internationalization with the opening of cdiscount.cm in Cameroon (Africa).

Customers will have access to more the 50 000 products available on the site, comprised of diverse and innovative offerings at the lowest prices in the market through various means of payment:

• Mobile;
• cash at pick-up points;
• cash on delivery;
• credit cards.

At launch, customers will be able to choose between home delivery and pick-up points according to their preference.

2,245 Casino Group stores are mobilising to collect basic commodities for donation

During France’s National Food Bank Collection Drive on 28 and 29 November, the Casino Foundation is mobilising the Group’s banners in France to help associations collect basic commodities from customers for redistribution to the poor. In this same spirit of generosity, Instituto GPA in Brazil is organising a Day of Solidarity on 6 December to bring “Happier Holidays” to disadvantaged families.

In France, the Casino Group’s banners – Géant Casino, Casino Supermarkets, Monoprix, Franprix, Leader Price, Casino shop, Petit Casino, Spar and Vival – will be actively participating in this year’s National Food Bank Collection Drive. In 2013, over 1,784 tonnes of basic commodities were collected at 1,421 stores in the Group’s network.

In Brazil, on 6 December, essential foodstuffs such as rice, kidney beans, pasta and oil will be collected by 824 stores under various banners – Pão de Açúcar, Extra Hiper, Extra Super, Mini Mercado and Assaí – for donation to Brazilian non-profit organisations Amigos do Bem, Banco de Alimentos da Prefeitura de Osasco, Mesa Brasil, Rotary, Casa do Caminho, Caritas Santa Terezinha, União dos Moradores de Paraisópolis, Associação das Mulheres de Paraisópolis and Pirata Marinheiros. In addition, Instituto GPA will be donating an additional kilogramme of goods for every 10 kg collected.

Many employees from the Casino Group will be volunteering during those three days to support teams from the food banks.

On 28 November, Cdiscount will inaugurate the tradition of Black Friday by offering its French and international customers a selection of unbeatable promotions, kicking off the Christmas shopping season at exceptional prices.

Customers will benefit from 24 hours of incredible prices in France and in Cdiscount’s other host countries, which include Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Senegal, Thailand and Vietnam.

24 hours of unbelievable promotions to kick off a week of exceptional Christmas sales

Taking a page from an American holiday tradition, Cdiscount is kicking off the Christmas shopping season with unbelievable promotions. On 28 November, for 24 hours, customers will benefit from unbeatable prices on products    from all of the website’s headline categories, including toys, information technology, household appliances, televisions, telephones, video games, home furnishings, fashion, wine and groceries.

Black Friday will open a week of exceptional Christmas sales, from 27 November to 3 December, featuring astounding discounts of up to 85% for toys, housewares and fashion and of up to 70% for high-tech items.

Unparalleled services, as always

For Cdiscount, services are a key strength in its relationship with customers. Website visitors are given the opportunity to pay in four instalments by bankcard for purchases starting at 30 euros. Free delivery in one of the network’s 17,000 pick-up points is offered for purchases of 25 euros and more. Packages weighing more than 30 kg are also delivered free of charge in one of the network’s 500 dedicated outlets. Lastly, free unlimited express delivery for all Cdiscount products was introduced a few months ago for an annual subscription of 19 euros.

Cnova N.V. (“Cnova”), one of the largest global eCommerce companies, announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 26,800,000 ordinary shares at a price of $7.00 per share, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $188 million. Cnova’s ordinary shares are expected to begin trading on November 20, 2014 on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “CNV.” The offering is expected to close on November 25, 2014, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. In addition, Cnova has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 4,020,000 additional ordinary shares at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are acting as joint book runners for the offering, and BNP Paribas Securities Corp., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Natixis Securities Americas LLC and SG Americas Securities LLC are acting as co-managers for the offering.

The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), copies of which can be obtained from:

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
Attn.: Prospectus Dept.
180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10014

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions
1155 Long Island Avenue
Edgewood, NY, 11717

Attn.: Prospectus Dept.

A registration statement (including a prospectus) relating to these securities has been filed with and declared effective by the SEC. This announcement does not constitute a prospectus and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities of Cnova nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On 20 November, Casino will host 150 secondary school students to provide them with exposure to careers in retail.

During France’s School-Work Week, which runs from 17 to 22 November 2014, the Casino Group is organising a day-long event on 20 November called “Working at Casino” which will be dedicated to giving 150 disadvantaged students exposure to the careers the Group offers.

A signatory of the Corporate Commitment Charter for Equal Opportunities in Education and a founding member of Le Réseau, a non-profit organisation that works to create a bridge between education and business through grassroots initiatives, Casino has long been actively engaged in promoting employment and career guidance for young people.

The event on 20 November will help students lay the groundwork for their future careers. Jobs at the Group’s stores, warehouses and headquarters will be presented through a series of site visits and round table discussions focusing on jobs in retail and logistics.

Five of the Group’s sites will host pupils from partner schools in disadvantaged areas. The schools involved include: the Elsa Molière school in Chennevières-sur-Marne, the Gambetta, Marc Seguin, Jules Vallès and Jean Dasté schools in Saint-Étienne, the Germaine Tillion school in the 12th arrondissement of Paris and the Lucas de Nehou and Érik Satie schools in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.

The Group is also committed to opening up work experience opportunities to 14- and 15-year-old pupils by promoting a Students’ Guide and a Charter of Commitment for Students in its stores.

Yves Desjacques, Group Human Resources Director, said: “the Working at Casino day is an important event in the Group’s calendar each year as it allows employees to share their passion for what they do with young people who rarely have the chance to get this sort of first-hand experience. The Group is proud of this role it plays in opening up the world of work to disadvantaged pupils in a practical way in order to help them lay the foundations for their careers.”

Le Réseau has been working consistently to build closer ties between business and education since 2007. Underpinned by a network of 82 companies and 600 partner schools, it puts in place practical initiatives to help broaden career choices for disadvantaged young people. Everyday, Le Réseau takes concrete action to promote equal opportunities and professional equality and to lower dropout rates at its partner schools.

http://lereseau.asso.fr

At Cdiscount, the holiday spirit comes to life in a toy catalogue of 10,000 items offered at the best prices on the web, exceptional promotions, better-than-ever premium services and, as always, high-tech and home products at unbeatable prices. Allowing shoppers to find gifts for the entire family in a single place, Cdiscount will make this holiday season a magical one.

Who better than France’s leading e-commerce site to meet the needs of families in the lead-up to Christmas? This year, Cdiscount is kicking off its holiday campaign with a bang. The site features an exceptional toy selection of no less than 10,000 items, including the best-selling toys of winter 2014 and the best-selling Hi-Tech. In true Cdiscount fashion, all are being offered at the lowest prices on the web. And to make the giving spirit last until the year is out the site has planned a number of targeted promotions.

Buy one, get one free

From December 4 to 11, Cdiscount will be running an exceptional “Buy One, Get One Free” campaign on a large selection of toys. When customers order two participating products, they receive a coupon for the amount of the lowest-priced item. The coupon can then be used toward future purchases.

At the top of the 2014 list for Santa at Cdiscount

Toys

No. 1: Videojet KidsPad 2 Touch Tablet – €59.99

No. 2: Kidkraft Amelia Dollhouse – €99.99

No. 3: Playmobil City Action Fire Engine – €38.54

No. 4: Vtech Storio 3S Tablet with Power Pack – €116.28

No. 5: Lexibook Violetta Acoustic Guitar – €35.00

Hi-Tech

No. 1 – HP 15.6” Laptop PC Laptop with Intel – €249

No. 2 – Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10” 16 GB in White – €258.32

No. 3 – Continental Edison 32” LED TV – €159.99

No. 4 – Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite Smartphone – €278.35

No. 5 – Sony PS4 500 GB system + Call of Duty Advanced Warfare game – €399.99

No. 6 – Xbox One system + FIFA 2015 game – €374.99

Better-than-ever premium services

A champion when it comes to service, Cdiscount is pulling out all the stops for Christmas by offering free home delivery on all toy purchases made until December 31, 2014. At the same time, it is extending the product return window until January 31, 2015. Before, during and after the holidays, the “Cdiscount unlimited” (“Cdiscount à volonté”) service provides free express delivery on an unlimited number of purchases for an annual fee of just €19.

The Board of Directors of Big C Supercenter, the subsidiary of Groupe Casino in Thailand has appointed on November 5th, 2014, Rob CISSELL as Chief Executive Officer.

Rob Cissell (53) joined Big C in April 2014 and held until now the position of Chief Operating Officer. He previously held management positions in international retail groups, including as the Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Retail in India since 2011 and, before that, as the Chief Operating Officer of  WalMart in China in 2008.

After over 30 years spent within the Group, of which 13 years leading Big C in Thailand, Yves Braibant has expressed his intention to leave the Group due to personal reasons, he will continue to support it under the framework of a consultancy mission.

Groupe Casino wishes to express its most sincere gratitude for his commitment during the many years he spent within the Group where he carried out the main part of his career, particularly overseas. Since 2001 under his leadership, Big C has become one of the leaders in food retail and e-commerce in Thailand with a network of 625 multi-banner and multi-format stores.

Cdiscount is expanding its operations with moncornerdeco.com, a speciality website that is the perfect blend between online store and interior design webzine. Thoroughly in step with the latest trends, moncornerdeco.com offers unique products at preferential prices and magazine articles overflowing with inspirational ideas and tips. Over 10,000 items are available for purchase at moncornerdeco.com, from decoration accessories to large household appliances to furniture.

The site covers every home decoration need, whether to rearrange the living room around a family-size corner sofa, feature high-quality linens in the bedroom, update the kitchen with the best electrical appliances or bring a touch of nature into the bathroom. It also sells decoration and lighting accessories, as well as gardening.

Backed by their industry-specific expertise and a level of experience that is unique to Cdiscount, the buyers know how to identify bargains, forge productive partnerships with manufacturers and offer some of the best deals on the market.

People who are passionate about interior design will find a wealth of ideas in Le Mag, which has hundreds of articles offering inspiration, expert advice, the latest home decoration news, practical guides, in-depth features and trend reports prepared by the site’s specialised editors. Le Mag is an end-to-end information resource allowing customers to explore all sorts of topics and get answers to all of their questions. It gives them ideas on how to make their projects take shape, for example by adjusting lighting to create a sense of space, and advice on how to budget projects such as a wood extension on their home.

At the end of this year, Cdiscount will be launching two new speciality websites based on the same model: moncornerbaby.com and moncornerbrico.com. Five other such sites will be launched in 2015.

Synergies are being created with Cdiscount through customer relationship management processes. moncornerdeco.com offers its customers convenient payment and delivery options. Starting with purchases as low as €30, customers can pay in four instalments by credit card. Leveraging Cdiscount’s logistics platform, the site can deliver products weighing less than 30 kg to the customer’s home or to one of the 17,500 pick-up locations in the network. Packages exceeding 30 kg can be collected by customers at one of 5,550 pick-up locations.

The first retailer to obtain France’s Workplace Equality Label in 2013 and a holder of the Diversity Label since 2009, the Casino Group is actively committed to preventing all forms of discrimination. The Group has implemented a diversity policy that aims to encourage the hiring of employees from a wide variety of backgrounds and promote equal opportunity and gender equality.

According to the 2014 equal opportunity survey (Baromètre de l’Égalité des Chances 2014) published in France on 8 October by TNS Sofres-Medef, “Over 20% of respondents say they believe that appearance is the second leading factor in discrimination.” To encourage best practices and combat stereotypes based on physical appearance, the Casino Group has published a guide for managers to raise their awareness of these issues and help them to handle daily management situations in a non-discriminatory manner.

Illustrated by French artist Antoine Chéreau, the guide explains the difference between the concepts of “stereotype” and “prejudice” and defines and denounces stereotypes based on height, weight, visible disabilities and other physical characteristics. It explains the behaviours that the Group expects of its managers, raising the key point that all employees, whether male or female, should be considered solely based on their abilities, regardless of their differences and life experiences. The Casino Group has distributed the guide to all managers and set up awareness-raising training sessions for their benefit.

“Committed for the past two decades to an assertive policy of promoting diversity and combatting all forms of discrimination,” said the Casino Group’s Human Resources Director Yves Desjacques, “we are pursuing our anti-discrimination initiatives with determination in order to ensure that everyone can be rewarded on the basis of merit alone.”

“The guide expresses our determination to deconstruct appearance-based stereotypes and prejudices in order to eliminate discriminatory practices both in hiring and in the career development process,” said Mansour Zoberi, Director of Diversity and Solidarity at the Casino Group. “It explains the behaviours that the Group expects of its managers, with the aim of helping them to handle daily management situations.”