PARIS Heavily indebted French supermarket chain Casino on Thursday announced it would sell its residual equity stake in Brazilian retailer Assai, representing around 12% of the company's share capital.

The deal helps Casino improve its liquidity, the company said one day after announcing it had also reached an agreement with the French government to defer payment of the group's tax and social security liabilities.

Casino has been plagued for years by hefty debt following a string of acquisitions and by declining revenues and loss of market share in a competitive domestic market.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)