Seven & i Holdings Weighs Store Divestments Amid Couche-Tard Merger Talks

Seven & i Holdings, the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven, is exploring potential divestitures of its stores in collaboration with Canadian firm Alimentation Couche-Tard. This measure aims to address regulatory hurdles amid merger discussions between the two companies. They plan to jointly identify buyers for select stores to meet U.S. antitrust standards. The discussions follow a rejected $40 billion takeover offer from Couche-Tard, which later increased to about $47 billion but was still dismissed by Seven & i. The merger, if successful, could become the largest foreign acquisition of a Japanese company, with over 20,000 potential U.S. convenience store locations under combined management. Despite these discussions, analysts predict significant antitrust issues, particularly in the U.S., may impede progress. Efforts are being led by Seven & i's newly appointed foreign CEO, Stephen Dacus. Couche-Tard is focused on finding a transaction beneficial to both parties, while analysts like Roy Larke suggest the bid remains practically hostile amidst genuine regulatory concerns.