7-Eleven owner announces counter-bid to foreign buyout

Tokyo: The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven said Wednesday its founding family had offered a counter-bid to a takeover attempt by Canadian convenience store rival Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT).

With around 85,000 outlets, 7-Eleven is the world's biggest convenience chain. If realised, Couche-Tard's seven trillion yen ($45 billion) takeover would be the largest foreign buyout of a Japanese firm.

Bloomberg News said up to nine trillion yen could be spent on taking the retail group private instead.

Seven & i said on Wednesday it had received a non legally binding acquisition proposal from its vice president Junro Ito, the founder's son, and his company Ito-Kogyo.

A special committee "has been reviewing the proposal carefully and thoroughly with its financial and legal advisors", its statement said.

"No determination has been made at this time to pursue a transaction with either Mr Ito and Ito-Kogyo, ACT, or any other party, and there can be no assurance that any such transaction will be entered into or consummated," it cautioned.

Ito-Kogyo holds a stake of around eight percent in the Japanese retail giant. "Mr Ito has been excluded from all discussions within the Company... relating to any proposal," the statement said.

Seven & i stocks closed more than 11 percent higher, having soared as much as 17 percent following the news.

The 7-Eleven franchise began in the United States, but it has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.

Around a quarter of 7-Eleven stores are in Japan, where the stores are a cherished one-stop shop for everything from rice balls to concert tickets.

Couche-Tard, which began with one store in Canada's city of Laval in 1980, now runs nearly 17,000 convenience outlets worldwide.

The Nikkei, citing sources close to Seven & i, said the company had begun talks with financial institutions to procure the necessary resources to go private.

But it said potential obstacles could include whether the banks would agree to the huge loans required.

Seven & i is Japan's biggest retailer, with a current market cap of 6.5 trillion yen.

In September, it rejected an initial takeover offer from Couche-Tard, saying the proposal "grossly" undervalued its business and could face regulatory hurdles.

Then the group said last month it had received a revised offer that reportedly totalled around seven trillion yen.

To boost its share price and fend off Couche-Tard, Seven & i has also announced a major restructuring, including plans to spin off its non-core businesses.

To allow it to focus on 7-Eleven, its new holding company will comprise its supermarket food business, speciality stores and other businesses.