Funding for family buyout of Seven & i likely to be secured by end of December
Reuters is reporting that the founding family behind the parent company of 7-Eleven, Seven & i, is close to securing the funding needed for its proposed buyout.
According to the reports, the funding the founding Ito family needs for the buyout will involve three of Japan’s largest lenders: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group.
The family had said that it was looking to take the well-known retailer private within the financial year ending in February 2025.
Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard has made several overtures to purchase Seven & i, first making a ‘friendly’ non-binding proposal in mid-August and a revised offer in October after its initial offer was turned down, the second valued at US$47 billion, some 22% higher than the offer of $38.6 billion Couche-Tard made in August. In both cases, Seven & i turned down the offers saying they were undervaluing company.
READ: Seven & i Holdings to focus on food and growth in North America
Seven & i Holdings Co. also announced plans to rename itself as 7-Eleven Corp. and let go dozens of what the company said are non-core businesses, in an effort to restructure itself so as to fend off Couche-Tard.
Reuters also reported that Couche-Tard's chairman and co-founder Alain Bouchard in an interview with the Nikkei business daily said that the company was not considering a hostile takeover, and instead was continuing to work toward an amicable acquisition.
Seven & i operates more than 80,000 7-Eleven convenience stores around the world. Couche-Tard operates in 31 countries and territories, with more than 16,700 stores. Its network includes more than 7,100 stores in the United States under the Circle K and Holiday Station stores banners, and approximately 2,100 in Canada under the Circle K and Couche-Tard banners.
