7-Eleven Store Owner Receives Buyout Offer From Canadian Rival | Retail Industry

The owner of global retail chain 7-Eleven has received an offer from a Canadian rival to buy the company, in what could be Japan’s largest foreign takeover ever.

Tokyo-based Seven & I Inc. said Monday it has received an offer from Canadian multinational retailer Alimentation Couture (ACT) to buy its stake in the company.

7-Eleven has grown to become one of the world’s largest convenience stores, with more than 84,000 stores in 19 countries, including 13,000 stores in the United States and 22,000 stores in Japan.

Headquartered in Montreal, ACT is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and has more than 16,700 stores and gas stations in 31 countries.

Seven & i has confirmed it has received an initial offer from ACT to buy all of its outstanding shares and has now set up a special committee to review the offer and make a recommendation to the board. Seven & i shares surged 22% on Monday on the news of the potential takeover, valuing the company at 5.6 trillion yen (£29.6 billion).

The Nikkei newspaper, which first reported the news, said the deal would likely be the largest foreign takeover of a Japanese company.

It would also be one of the first takeover attempts after the Japanese government relaxed rules last year that made it harder for boards to ignore unsolicited offers. Previous rules made it easier for CEOs and board members to block offers that were against shareholders’ interests.

7-Eleven dates back to the 1920s in Texas. It acquired its name in 1946, due to its hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Since then, it has expanded throughout the United States and has become synonymous with products such as the Slurpee and the 32-ounce Big Gulp. In 2005, it was fully acquired by major shareholder Ito-Yokado through Seven & i and has continued to expand in the United States.

ACT began its convenience store brand in Quebec more than 40 years ago and now has 652 convenience stores and gas stations across Canada. In 2003, the company acquired the American convenience store brand Circle K, which is now present in more than 24 countries around the world.

The company has recently been trying to boost its global presence through acquisitions, unsuccessfully trying to buy French supermarket chain Carrefour in 2021 for €16.2bn (£13.7bn). It also bid for US petrol station chain Speedway, but was outbid by Seven & i.

The committee, which was formed by Seven & I and chaired by Stephen Hayes Dacus, will investigate the acquisition and has promised a quick review. The committee said it has not made a decision on whether to accept or reject the proposal.