Latest News

7 & i to ask Couche-Tard to reevaluate 'insufficient' deal, source states

Japanese retail giant Seven && . i will notify Canada's Alimentation CoucheTard. that its takeover bid cost is inadequate, a source. acquainted with the matter said on Thursday.

7 & & i will ask Couche-Tard to reassess its takeover. bid, also referring to competition law issues mainly in the. U.S., although the business does not decline the offer and will. continue to talk with the suitor, the source stated.

The business's board will send a letter to Couche-Tard as. early as Friday, according to the Nikkei company daily, which. reported the news initially.

News of Couche-Tard's technique for the international operator of. the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, which would be the biggest. foreign takeover of a Japanese company, pressed Seven & & i shares . up almost 23% on Aug. 19.

A Seven & & i representative declined to comment, stating the. business would not talk about market rumours.

Seven & & i, with a market appraisal of about 5.6 trillion. yen ($ 39 billion), formerly said it formed an unique. committee to examine the proposition, whose value or terms have not. been divulged.

Couche-Tard, which operates Circle-K corner store,. is valued at about $52 billion.

While 7 & & i is much larger than Couche-Tard in terms. of sales, shops, and employees, its shares have underperformed. for many years, drawing problems from financiers including ValueAct. Capital about the business's management and property structure.

U.S. fund Craftsmen Partners, which holds about 0.85% of. Seven & & i's impressive shares, stated recently that Couche-Tard. might

enhance

the Japanese company's corporate worth and called on its. management to react to the deal by Sept. 19.

The quote for 7 & & i is the latest example of the. growing

interest

in Japanese business by Western financiers, who have been. drawn by the nation's push for much better governance and a slide in. the yen.

Foreign acquisitions of Japanese business doubled to. about 902.2 billion yen

(source: Reuters)