A screen displays logos of Couche-Tard and Seven & i Holdings on the day of a press conference, in Tokyo, Japan, March 13, 2025. REUTERS
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s logo is displayed at their press conference in Tokyo, Japan March 13, 2025. REUTERS
A man walks past the logo of 7-Eleven displayed at their convenience store in Tokyo, Japan March 6, 2025. REUTERS
(Reuters) – Potential buyers of Japan’s Seven & I (3382.T), and Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard’s (ACT) (ATD.TO), U.S. stores have until the end of March to express their interest and address antitrust concerns, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Some potential buyers are engaged in the process, and have signed non-disclosure agreements, Bloomberg News reported.
ACT, which operates the Circle-K convenience stores in Canada and the United States, has been trying to acquire the beleaguered Seven & i since August, with the Canadian company ready to bolster its most recent buyout offer of $47 billion.
However, the deal has been wrapped up in anti-trust concerns, with Seven & i opposing the takeover bid saying U.S. anti-trust law would be a barrier to any deal.
The companies are the top two players in the U.S. convenience store market, with about 20,000 locations between them.
It was not immediately clear how many stores apiece the two companies were divesting.
ACT did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Seven & i was not immediately available for comment.
Any initial expression of interest will need to protect competition in the U.S. market, the Bloomberg report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Earlier this month, Seven & i, which has been the target of investor criticism over its capital allocation for years, said that talks had kicked off with ACT over a store sale plan that would set the stage for the takeover bid.
Separately, ACT said it was in exploratory talks with third parties about the potential sale of its U.S. stores to help it gain regulatory approval.
Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman
