7-Eleven rejected a $38 billion takeover offer

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 09. 06. 11:21

7-Eleven’s owner, Japan’s Seven & i Holdings, rejected the Canadian retail giant Alimentation Couche-Tard’s (ACT) bid for 38 billion dollars (approx. HUF 13.5 trillion). The Japanese company said the offer “grossly undervalued” 7-Eleven, but indicated it remained open to negotiations for a better offer.

7-Eleven, which is the world’s largest grocery store chain with 85,000 stores, is present in 20 countries. The bidder ACT operates 17,000 stores worldwide, including the Circle K and Couche-Tard store chains. If the deal were to come to fruition, a giant chain operating nearly 100,000 stores would be created, which would cover a significant part of the American market.

The Japanese owner also criticized ACT’s timing when rejecting the offer, saying that due to the weakening Japanese yen, they wanted to buy the company on more favorable terms for foreign buyers. According to the BBC, the acquisition of such a large Japanese company by a foreign company would be of historic importance, since until now Japanese companies have mostly bought foreign companies.