Seven & i provides more details in response to Couche-Tard
Seven & i offers further response to Couche-Tard’s withdrawal of it acquisition bid. | Alimentation Couche-Tard, Seven & i
Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd., parent of the 7-Eleven convenience-store brand, has offered additional details “in light of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s (ACT) unilateral decision to withdraw its acquisition proposal” and its “highly misleading” public letter effectively ending its more than $47 billion takeover bid that would have combined the 7-Eleven and Circle K c-store brands. The Tokyo-based company said Couche-Tard did not take antitrust concerns seriously, wrongly criticized Seven & i’s governance and does not understand the Japanese market.
Seven & i said the Special Committee of the Board of Directors was “compelled” to provide an update to its previous response to Couche-Tard’s claims.
“We have worked for about a year to explore the possibility of a deal with ACT,” Seven & i’s special committee said in a letter posted Tuesday. “We consistently engaged in good faith, and we are disappointed that ACT has decided to walk away from these discussions. We are further disappointed that they have done so in a way that completely mischaracterizes both our engagement and the significant hurdles this transaction faced that they were not committed to resolving.”
Seven & i also said it is “moving forward with unwavering focus to execute our standalone value creation plan and unlock the value of our businesses.”
The committee “believes management’s plan is concrete and actionable. With the proceeds from the sale of the company’s superstore business and an [initial public offering (IPO)] of our North American convenience-store business, management aims to return approximately JPY 2Tn ($13.6 billion U.S.) to shareholders through share buybacks by the end of [full-year] 2030. Management is also moving quickly to improve key areas of our operations to enhance performance metrics over both the medium and longer term.”
Seven & i has proposed an initial public offering (IPO) for 7-Eleven in the United States and is exploring options for potential divestitures to minimize possible antitrust issues.
Seven & i asserts that Couche-Tard “did not take antitrust concerns seriously” for a transaction with an “unprecedented level of pre-deal scrutiny.” It said the deal could not happen without “very significant divestiture,” but Couche-Tard did not identify a “viable strategic buyer who would meet with the [Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC)] approval. … the only potential buyers that emerged were private equity firms, which are not viewed as desirable buyers by the FTC.”
Seven & i said it had identified 2,000 or more overlapping stores that could be divested. Couche-Tard said it had identified a potential divestiture portfolio of U.S. stores.
“We did everything we could to find a divestiture solution, recognizing the extraordinary challenge,” Seven & i said.
Seven & i also said, “Suggestions that our governance was not up to the task or fell back on a conventional “Japan Inc” mentality are simply wrong. Recently, Japanese companies have enhanced their corporate governance. We have been well ahead of other Japanese companies in how we responded to ACT’s unsolicited offer.”
And it said Couch-Tard’s “unhappiness with our engagement demonstrates an unfortunate lack of knowledge of the Japanese market. … To suggest that our management presentations were scripted is to misunderstand Japanese culture.”
Seven & i concluded, “We understand and respect the operational, financial and market challenges their business is facing, and we recognize how financing markets have changed. But there is no need to blame Seven & i for that reality. ACT decided on its own it was easier to walk away. Now we are turning our full attention to creating value through our standalone plan.”
Couche-Tard, meanwhile, on Monday announced that the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has approved a share repurchase program to enhance operational performance and shareholder value. It authorizes the company, through July 22, 2026, to repurchase up to 77,115,921 shares, representing 10% of the 771,159,210 shares comprising Couche-Tard’s “public float” (outstanding shares that are available for public trading on the open market) as of July 14. Based on the current share price, this would represent a total investment of approximately $4.2 billion, the company said.
- 7-Eleven is No. 1 and Alimentation Couche-Tard is No. 2 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by U.S. store count.
Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard owns more than 16,700 c-stores, including nearly 7,300 Circle K, Holiday Stationstores and GetGo and other c-stores in the United States, more than 2,100 c-stores in Canada and approximately 7,500 more in 28 additional countries and territories.
Seven & i owns more than 85,000 7-Eleven c-stores in 19 countries and regions globally. Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven Inc. has more than 13,000 7-Eleven, Speedway and other convenience stores in the United States and Canada.
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