PARIS--French retailer Groupe Casino on Thursday said it has
filed to spin off its global e-commerce business Cnova in an
initial public offering in New York.
Casino's board on Wednesday approved the creation of Cnova,
which will run the group's e-commerce units in Brazil, Colombia,
France, Thailand and Vietnam and will be controlled by Casino,
according to a statement.
The company then plans to list the shares of Cnova on the New
York Stock Exchange through an IPO.
Cnova recorded $4.9 billion in sales in 2013, Casino said in the
statement. The company didn't provide a time frame for the IPO or
specify what stake it intends to float. Casino declined to provide
a potential valuation of the IPO.
Casino's focus on e-commerce is one of its biggest avenues for
growth, along with its presence in emerging markets such as
Brazil.
"The success of Cnova will be based on a low-cost business model
with attractive pricing and extensive product assortment and highly
differentiated delivery and payment solutions," Casino said.
Casino sees its e-commerce activities as complementary to its
bricks-and-mortar stores. In France, for instance, its Cdiscount
site has become a major dealer in home electronics and appliances,
drawing business away from supercenters selling the same items. Yet
Casino has also used its stores as a distribution network for
e-commerce sales, in what it sees as an advantage over rival
Amazon.com Inc.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
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