Canada’s Couche-Tard makes preliminary bid for Japanese retail giant Seven & i

TOKYO: Japanese retailer Seven & i holdings, operator of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said on Monday (Aug 19) it has received a preliminary takeover offer from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Shares in Seven & i surged by 22.7 per cent or their daily trading limit of ¥400, giving it a market value of ¥5.6 trillion (US$38 billion). Couche-Tard is valued at roughly US$58 billion.
Seven & i said it has formed a special committee to review the proposal but no decision has been made by either the committee or board of directors.
Alimentation Couche-Tard did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of usual working hours.
The talks are “at a very early stage”, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
If the deal goes through, this would be the largest ever buyout of a Japanese firm by an overseas company, according to the Nikkei business daily which first reported on the offer.
In 2020, Seven & i and Couche Tard were rival bidders to take over US gas station chain Speedway, which the Japanese company ended up purchasing for US$21 billion.
Seven & i has been under pressure from activist investors to sell off underperforming assets and double down on its global convenience store business centred around its flagship 7-Eleven brand.