Japan’s Seven & i Holdings, the parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, has named a new CEO and plans to sell billions in assets as it tries to fend off a takeover bid from a Canadian rival.
On Thursday, Seven & i named its board chairman, Stephen Dacus, as its new president and CEO. Dacus, the former head of Walmart in Japan, will succeed Ryuichi Isaka in May.
Dacus, who is fluent in Japanese, is Seven & i’s first non-Japanese CEO.
The restructuring follows Seven & i’s rejection of a takeover bid by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, which owns Circle K and other convenience chains. Dacus said earlier that the offer had undervalued the potential of the convenience store business and failed to fully address U.S. regulatory concerns.
Seven & i said Thursday it plans to sell some non-convenience store assets, including supermarkets and other retail stores, to Bain Capital for $5.4 billion US. The transaction is scheduled to close in September.
Planning a U.S. IPO
The company also said it plans an initial public offering of shares in its North American 7-Eleven operations by the end of 2026. That business, based in Irving, Texas, operates and franchises 13,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Seven & i said it would use the proceeds from the IPO and the sale to Bain Capital to fund share buybacks.
“We have been on a journey to explore opportunities that create the most value for our shareholders and enhance our customers’ experiences around the world,” Isaka said in a statement. “This is the right time to move these initiatives forward.”
Seven & i’s share price jumped 6.1 per cent in Tokyo.
Couche-Tard is making a bid to take over convenience store giant 7-Eleven. It may seem like a big step, but the Quebec-based company already has a global footprint.
The company’s 7-Eleven holdings include 86,000 stores in the U.S., Japan and other Asian nations. In contrast to the 7-Elevens in the U.S. mainland, the stores in Japan are known for their variety of food, and have replaced many mom and pop shops. Seven & i says 22 million people visit its 22,800 7-Elevens in Japan each day.
Last year, Seven & i announced a restructuring plan to strengthen its U.S. operations and streamline operations, which included closing some Ito-Yokado supermarkets in Japan.
In 2022, Seven & i sold its Sogo & Seibu department stores in Japan to Fortress Investment Group, a U.S. fund, for $1.5 billion US. It said it also plans to reduce its share in Seven Bank.
Read More: 7-Eleven owner names new CEO, plans to go public as it fights takeover bid
