AFP – Shares in 7-Eleven’s parent rose more than seven per cent yesterday after a report that United States (US) investment firm Apollo is eyeing a USD9.5 billion stake in the owner of the world’s biggest convenience store chain.
Japan’s Seven & i last year rejected a takeover offer worth nearly USD40 billion from Circle K parent Alimentation Couche-Tard, prompting the Canadian firm reportedly to sweeten its bid by 20 per cent. Seven & i then said in November that it was studying a counter-offer from the company’s founding Ito family that reportedly was worth around JPY8 trillion (USD50 billion).
Bloomberg News reported yesterday that Apollo Global Management was considering taking an equity stake in that bid worth as much as JPY1.5 trillion.
The Ito family is weighing a commitment of around JPY500 billion and Itochu Corp, which owns the FamilyMart chain, more than one trillion yen, Bloomberg reported, quoting unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Other partners are still negotiating stakes as part of the plan, which is subject to change, and the rest of the financing would come from Japan’s top banks, the report said. It added that the total valuation buyout offer was originally planned to be JPY9 trillion but that this may be lowered as Seven & i’s market value – JPY6.3 trillion yesterday – was now considerably lower.
Seven & i’s Finance Chief Yoshimichi Maruyama said on Thursday that the firm was still considering both the Couche-Tard offer and the family buyout proposal.
“We will make a decision based on how we can maximise our corporate and shareholder value,” local media quoted Maruyama as saying.
“We don’t have enough information to make a judgement at this point,” he said, adding that it may end up rejecting both proposals to pursue a “standalone” strategy.
