{"id":95884,"date":"2025-09-25T10:04:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/?p=95884"},"modified":"2025-09-25T10:04:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:04:17","slug":"assai-sues-french-casino-seeks-freeze-of-brazilian-retailer-gpa-shares","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/assai-sues-french-casino-seeks-freeze-of-brazilian-retailer-gpa-shares\/","title":{"rendered":"Assa\u00ed sues French Casino, seeks freeze of Brazilian retailer GPA shares"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brazilian cash&carry chain asks court to block R$475m stake amid dispute over tax liabilities of P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar\u2019s parent company<\/em><\/strong><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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09\/25\/2025<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Cash-and-carry chain Assa\u00ed has filed a lawsuit against French retailer Casino, requesting a freeze on all of its shares in GPA, after being notified that it could be held liable for the tax contingencies of P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar\u2019s controlling shareholder.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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The case was filed on Wednesday (24) at S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Business and Arbitration-Related Disputes Court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Currently, only part of the tax liabilities is being pursued by the Treasury\u2014about R$36 million. However, the risk of further claims prompted Assa\u00ed to request a remedy to block 22.5% of Casino\u2019s stake in GPA, valued at roughly R$475 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to people familiar with the matter, Assa\u00ed fears Casino could sell the remaining 110 million common shares it still holds in GPA and transfer the proceeds to France. Casino already has a plan to monetize the stake and is seeking buyers. If new tax claims arise, with the capital moved abroad, Assa\u00ed argues it would be left exposed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In its financial statements, Casino already classifies its Brazilian operations as discontinued.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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An arbitration proceeding is expected to be opened within 30 days at the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce Arbitration and Mediation Center. But such cases take an average of three years, which led Assa\u00ed to file an application for injunctive relief.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Assa\u00ed was a GPA subsidiary until 2020, when Casino took over GPA\u2019s control. Currently, the French retailer is GPA\u2019s second-largest shareholder, behind the Coelho Diniz family.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Last week, Brazil\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office of the National Treasury (PGFN) notified Assa\u00ed of the opening of an Administrative Liability Recognition Proceeding (PARR). The Treasury considers Assa\u00ed jointly liable for debts incurred while it was part of the same economic group as GPA (2007\u20132020). GPA disputes this, as it publicly stated in October 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Under Brazil\u2019s National Tax Code, however, companies can be held jointly responsible for contingencies related to acts and events that occurred before a corporate spin-off. These could involve disputes over social taxes PIS and Cofins or Tax on Financial Transactions (IOF).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Assa\u00ed could also face liability for other GPA-related obligations. According to a person with access to transaction documents, GPA has around R$17 billion in total contingencies and 5,000 municipal, state, and federal tax assessments. Assa\u00ed could be exposed to a portion of these related to the pre-2020 period.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In GPA\u2019s second-quarter balance sheet, legal proceedings with guarantees and surety bonds totaled R$13.5 billion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In its filing, Assa\u00ed argues that GPA\u2019s owners acted abusively by selling assets in Brazil and distributing dividends to shareholders in Europe despite billions in contingencies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Part of those dividends helped Casino pay foreign creditors during its debt restructuring proceedings in France after 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A former P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar executive recalled that independent members had seats on the board of directors before the spin-off, as did Casino, which led the board at the time when these contingencies were growing. He added that there was widespread concern within the company that the amounts could escalate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHowever, there wasn\u2019t much to be done since Casino, through Arnaud Strasser and others such as Ronaldo Iabrudi, had the decision-making power,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In September last year, the Federal Revenue listed R$1.3 billion in Assa\u00ed\u2019s assets as collateral for potential GPA debts. In October, however, GPA successfully appealed, and the measure was lifted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the time, GPA acknowledged responsibility for Assa\u00ed\u2019s legal cases, which totaled R$36 million\u2014R$4 million tax-related, R$15 million labor, and R$17 million civil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The issue resurfaced because, according to people close to the matter, the Treasury is exploring alternative ways to hold Assa\u00ed accountable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The chain argues it could only act now, after being formally notified of the PARR. The company is represented by the law firm Mattos Filho.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Federal Revenue monitors whether companies maintain at least 30% of their assets to cover contingencies. Alerts are triggered when asset levels fall below that threshold.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Assa\u00ed\u2019s advisers believe GPA\u2019s asset sales, including the Colombian \u00c9xito chain, reduced this ratio and drew the Treasury\u2019s attention. That led the PGFN to look to Assa\u00ed, once part of GPA, as a potential source of recovery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Following the PGFN notification, Assa\u00ed has 15 days to submit its administrative defense. The process may require deposits in court or guarantees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Market participants expect GPA shares to respond to the development in Thursday\u2019s (25) session, as Casino considers selling the stake to meet financial covenants with foreign creditors, a move Valor reported earlier. A decline in share value could affect those plans. Casino declined to comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This marks the first time Assa\u00ed has taken legal action against Casino. The cash-and-carry chain still carries debts left behind by the French group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Assa\u00ed was separated from GPA five years ago, it inherited about R$8.5 billion in debts from Colombian unit \u00c9xito, a decision imposed by Casino. At the time, Assa\u00ed was GPA\u2019s main cash generator.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Roughly 90% of Assa\u00ed\u2019s current liabilities stem from that legacy debt burden, compounded by high interest rates. The company became fully independent in 2021 after its spin-off from GPA and is now a publicly traded corporation with no controlling shareholder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis story seems endless,\u201d said a longtime observer. \u201cAssa\u00ed was saddled with \u00c9xito\u2019s debt at Casino\u2019s insistence, and suffered governance-related share discounts while Casino was still a shareholder. Then Casino left, and the problems continued to follow Assa\u00ed.\u201d<\/p>\n

*By\u00a0Adriana Mattos\u00a0\u2014 S\u00e3o Paulo<\/p>\n

Source: Valor International<\/p>\n

https:\/\/valorinternational.globo.com\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brazilian cash&carry chain asks court to block R$475m stake amid dispute over tax liabilities of P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar\u2019s parent company   09\/25\/2025 Cash-and-carry chain Assa\u00ed has filed a lawsuit against French retailer Casino, requesting a freeze on all of its shares in GPA, after being notified that it could be held liable for the tax […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8106],"tags":[26442,26443],"class_list":["post-95884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-murray-news","tag-assai-sues-french-casino","tag-seeks-freeze-of-brazilian-retailer-gpa-shares"],"yoast_head":"\nAssa\u00ed sues French Casino, seeks freeze of Brazilian retailer GPA shares - Murray Advogados<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/assai-sues-french-casino-seeks-freeze-of-brazilian-retailer-gpa-shares\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Assa\u00ed sues French Casino, seeks freeze of Brazilian retailer GPA shares - 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