A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & i Holdings Co., in Kawasaki, Japan, on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024.
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Trading in Seven & i was halted Thursday after Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard withdrew its $47 billion bid to acquire the Japanese company.
Convenience store operator Couche-Tard announced Wednesday that it was pulling its takeover bid for Japan’s Seven & i Holdings, saying there was a “persistent lack of good faith engagement.”
“There has been no sincere or constructive engagement from 7&i that would facilitate the advancement of any proposal, contrary to comments made publicly by 7&i representatives,” the Canadian retailer said in a statement.
The operator of 7-Eleven stores expressed disappointment with Couche-Tard’s decision, and disagreed with many of its “inaccurate statements,” according to a Google translation of Seven & i’s statement in Japanese.
The company in 2024 rejected a buyout bid from Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard. Couche-Tard had initially made an offer of $14.86 per share to acquire Seven & i in August last year. The offer was rejected, with Seven & i saying it “grossly undervalues” the company.
The company then reportedly raised its offer in October by over 22% to $18.19 per share, valuing Seven & i at 7 trillion Japanese yen, or about $47 billion.
“As we have expressed many times, we do believe that fully combining our two companies is the most straightforward and effective way to maximize value to all stakeholders,” Couche-Tard said. “However, we are not able to effectively pursue this combination without deeper and genuine further engagement from 7&i leadership and the special committee.”
Seven & i Holdings replaced Ryuichi Isaka as CEO with outside director Stephen Dacus taking the helm in May.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
— CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.
