A new era for the Lucien Barrière group which, 111 years after the creation of what is now the leading casino operator in France and Switzerland, will see the children succeed the father. Alexandre Barrière and his sister Joy Desseigne-Barrière will become the sole owners of the group, while the family has cohabited for decades with a minority shareholder, Accor since 1989 and Fimalac since 2011. According to information from the newspaper Les Echos, an agreement has been found by the two heirs of the group to buy the shares of Fimalac, the holding company of billionaire Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, for an amount of 325 million euros.
Until then, the 82-year-old businessman held a 40% stake in the Barrière group, but had accepted the principle of selling all of Fimalac’s shares in the Barrière group to Alexandre and Joy. He also said he was ready to sell them the 10% he holds in the Société fermière du casino municipal de Cannes (SFCMC), which would allow the Barrière family to climb to 70% of the capital. The group’s board of directors convened a mixed general meeting on Wednesday October 4 at the Hôtel Majestic in Cannes “in order to have the resolutions adopted allowing the implementation of this takeover”.
Once these transactions have been completed, during the summer according to our information, the two Barrière heirs will then have a free hand on the brand that bears their name, and on the two groups of which it is made up: the Lucien Barrière group, not listed on the stock exchange. , and SFCMC, listed on Euronext Paris. An empire dedicated to leisure and luxury bringing together no less than 19 hotels, including a majority of 5 stars and a palace in Courchevel, 32 casinos, 1 gaming club, more than 150 bars and restaurants, 16 spas, a thalassotherapy center and balneotherapy. For nearly 6,500 employees and a turnover of 1.3 billion euros in 2022.
Pending the formalization of this takeover, two press releases sent to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) dated Friday that Le Figaro was able to consult already stipulate the appointment of Joy Desseigne-Barrière, as chairman of the group’s board of directors. SFCMC, which includes a casino, three hotels with a beach and seven restaurants, but also the Société immobilière et d’exploitation de l’hôtel Barrière-Le Majestic (a hotel and two prestigious restaurants), replacing his father. CEO since 1995, Dominique Desseigne will no longer hold a corporate office, but will obtain the title of honorary president. These are all new features that reflect the change in strategy adopted by the group since the arrival of Alexandre Barrière as president in April.
These changes should be formalized next week, with the announcement on Monday July 31 of the new governance and the new board of directors, as well as the announcement on Tuesday August 1 of a new general manager, according to a close source. folder. Since April, the former CEO of SFR and Altice France, Grégory Rabuel, has assumed this mission at the head of the group. For the first time, an operational boss outside the family has been appointed, in a context of a somewhat tense transfer of power.
