7-Eleven owner names new CEO, plans to go public as it fights takeover bid by Quebec's Couche-Tard

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 2:39 PM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Japan's Seven & one Holdings, the genitor institution of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, has named a caller CEO and plans to merchantability billions successful assets arsenic it tries to fend disconnected a takeover bid from a Canadian rival.

On Thursday, Seven & one named its committee chairman, Stephen Dacus, arsenic its caller president and CEO. Dacus, the erstwhile caput of Walmart successful Japan, volition win Ryuichi Isaka successful May.

Dacus, who is fluent successful Japanese, is Seven & i's archetypal 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 different convenience chains. Dacus said earlier that the connection had undervalued the imaginable of the convenience store concern and failed to afloat code U.S. regulatory concerns.

Seven & one said Thursday it plans to merchantability immoderate non-convenience store assets, including supermarkets and different retail stores, to Bain Capital for $5.4 cardinal US. The transaction is scheduled to adjacent successful September.

Planning a U.S. IPO

The institution besides said it plans an archetypal nationalist offering of shares successful its North American 7-Eleven operations by the extremity of 2026. That business, based successful Irving, Texas, operates and franchises 13,000 stores successful the U.S. and Canada.

Seven & one said it would usage the proceeds from the IPO and the merchantability to Bain Capital to money stock buybacks.

"We person been connected a travel to research opportunities that make the astir worth for our shareholders and heighten our customers' experiences astir the world," Isaka said successful a statement. "This is the close clip to determination these initiatives forward."

Seven & i's stock terms jumped 6.1 per cent in Tokyo.

WATCH | Can Couche-Tard truly bargain 7-Eleven? 

The company's 7-Eleven holdings see 86,000 stores successful the U.S., Japan and different Asian nations. In opposition to the 7-Elevens successful the U.S. mainland, the stores successful Japan are known for their assortment of food, and person replaced galore ma and popular shops. Seven & one says 22 cardinal radical sojourn its 22,800 7-Elevens successful Japan each day.

Last year, Seven & one announced a restructuring program to fortify its U.S. operations and streamline operations, which included closing immoderate Ito-Yokado supermarkets successful Japan.

In 2022, Seven & one sold its Sogo & Seibu section stores successful Japan to Fortress Investment Group, a U.S. fund, for $1.5 cardinal US. It said it besides plans to trim its stock successful Seven Bank.