Couche-Tard raises bid for 7-Eleven

Couche-Tard is significantly increasing its bid for the owner of 7-Eleven after the convenience retailer felt hugely undervalued by the initial proposal. Now management is bound to consider the takeover, insiders believe.

National security issue?

Things are getting serious between Canadian Alimentation Couche-Tard and Seven&i, 7-Eleven’s Japanese owner. After a rejected bid of 14.86 dollars per share, amounting to 35 billion euros, Couche-Tard is now said to be offering as much as 22 % more: about 44 billion euros, anonymous sources told Bloomberg.

Seven&i confirms that there is a new proposal, but stresses that the negotiations remain confidential. However, analysts believe that the amount on offer is already much more convincing – to the extent that management is now forced to seriously consider it. Should the deal go through, it will be the largest overseas takeover of a Japanese company ever. Admittedly, there are still political and regulatory obstacles to a takeover: only last month, the Japanese government declared the retail giant as ‘important’ for national security.

This week, Seven&i publishes its own quarterly figures, along with the expected announcement that the company will divest assets anyway. The group may sell part of its supermarket division or its banking branch Seven Bank.