The buyout group, which included the founding Ito family and Itochu Corp., has been unable to secure the financing required to submit a definitive proposal to acquire Seven & i, the retailer said in a statement Thursday. Itochu shares gained as much as 6.8% on Thursday.
The buyout plan led by the Ito family and Itochu was initially put together in November to fend off a takeover offer by Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., which has proposed to acquire the Japanese retailer at a valuation closer to $47 billion. If the buyout plan falls over, Seven & i Chief Executive Officer Ryuichi Isaka may have little choice but to enter negotiations with Couche-Tard.
Couche-Tard, the owner of the Circle-K chain of convenience stores, is keeping up its pursuit of Seven & i but has yet to gain access to the Japanese company’s finances, months after proposing a takeover, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
In its statement Thursday, Seven & i said it “remains committed to exploring all opportunities to unlock value for shareholders” and continues to assess Couche-Tard’s proposal. It is engaging constructively with the Canadian company to determine if an actionable proposal can be achieved that addresses the serious US antitrust challenges any transaction would face.
Couche-Tard signaled its interest more than six months ago, then increased its proposed price in September. But the two sides have yet to sign a non-disclosure agreement that would give the Canadian company access to detailed financial information that its board believes is necessary to make a formal binding offer, a common step in such negotiations.
The heirs of Seven and i’s founder were set to contribute around ¥500 billion to the buyout, while trading house Itochu would put up more than ¥1 trillion, with the rest of the funding coming from other strategic investors and Japan’s top banks, people familiar with the plans had said.
First Published: Feb 27, 2025 6:43 AM IST
