PARIS (Reuters) - Casino 's (PA:CASP) shareholders have granted Fimalac, the French financial group owned by billionaire Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere, a seat on the board of the French retailer.
Some 93.35% of votes cast at Casino's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday approved a resolution appointing Fimalac deputy CEO Thomas Piquemal to the board.
Fimalac, which has a 2.6% stake in Casino, agreed in March to provide new financing facilities for Rallye (PA:GENC), the parent company of Casino, which has been under pressure to cut its debts.
By bringing in new financing from Fimalac, Casino ended a previous arrangement with Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky, who had initially been offered a Casino board seat.
VESA Equity Investment, controlled by Kretinsky, had raised its stake in Casino to 6.88% of the capital and 5.17% of the voting rights in March.
But in April, VESA lowered its stake in Casino to 4.99% of the voting rights through the sale of Casino shares.