Japanese 7-Eleven owner rejects Canadian rival's $50b takeover bid

Japanese retail giant Seven & i Holdings said on Sept 6 it had turned down Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard's US$38.5 billion (S$50 billion) cash bid, rejecting an offer that would have been the largest-ever foreign buyout of a Japanese company.7-Eleven operator Seven & i said the takeover proposal was not in the best interest of shareholders and was likely to face significant antitrust challenges in the United States, where the combined company would be the convenience store industry's biggest by a considerable margin.

Japanese retail giant Seven & i Holdings said on Sept 6 it had turned down Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard's US$38.5 billion (S$50 billion) cash bid, rejecting an offer that would have been the largest-ever foreign buyout of a Japanese company.

7-Eleven operator Seven & i said the takeover proposal was not in the best interest of shareholders and was likely to face significant antitrust challenges in the United States, where the combined company would be the convenience store industry's biggest by a considerable margin.

Seven & i, which said in August it had received an offer from Circle K owner Couche-Tard without naming the price, disclosed the bid was at US$14.86 a share and said it was open to "sincerely consider" any proposals.