TOKYO – Shares in the Japanese owner of convenience store giant 7-Eleven jumped more than four percent Monday after a report said its CEO would be replaced.
A formal decision will be made at a board meeting, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter. A Seven & i spokesman declined to comment.
Seven & i shares rose as much as 4.6 percent before paring gains to trade up just 0.1 percent mid-morning.
With around 85,000 outlets, 7-Eleven is the world’s biggest convenience store brand. The franchise began in the United States, but it has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.
ACT, which began with one store in Quebec in 1980, now runs nearly 17,000 convenience store outlets worldwide including the Circle K chain.
Last year Seven & i rejected an offer worth nearly $40 billion from ACT — which would have been the biggest ever foreign buyout of a Japanese company.
Even as ACT reportedly sweetened its bid, Seven & i said in November it was studying a counter-offer from its founding Ito family reportedly worth around eight trillion yen ($53 billion).
The family were reportedly negotiating financing from top Japanese banks as well as companies such as Itochu Corp, which owns the FamilyMart chain.
But Seven & i said Thursday it had been told it would be “difficult to procure the necessary funds” for such a buyout.
ACT then said “we look forward to working constructively with Seven & i to reach a friendly agreement”.
In September, when Seven & i rejected the initial takeover offer from ACT, the company said it had “grossly” undervalued its business and could face regulatory hurdles. – AFP
