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Seven & i, the Japanese retail giant, is planning to list its 7-Eleven store business in North America and launch a massive share buyback, as it combats a $47bn takeover attempt by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard.
The group has also appointed its first ever foreign chief executive and agreed to sell non-core assets to private equity firm Bain Capital for close to ¥814bn ($5.5bn), in its most radical attempt so far to prove to shareholders it should stay independent, the company said on Thursday after the Tokyo market closed.
Stephen Dacus, lead independent director and head of the company’s special committee responsible for evaluating the takeover approach from Couche-Tard, will take over from chief executive Ryuichi Isaka. His appointment is subject to approval at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on May 27.
The initial public offering of its North American convenience store business, with 13,145 stores currently in the US and Canada, is expected to be launched as soon as the second half of 2026. Seven & i intends to retain majority ownership.
The company said it would also carry out a large-scale buyback programme worth as much as ¥2tn ($13.2bn) by 2030 using the proceeds of the IPO and the sale to Bain of non-core assets that include supermarket, restaurant and speciality stores.
The group will make a renewed push to expand internationally, said Dacus at a news conference, emphasising direct investments where the company retained control rather than by making licensing agreements.
“That will ensure we have better controls and our shareholders get a much bigger benefit from the growth of the Seven & i brand globally,” he said.
Dacus is expected to continue talks with Couche-Tard while simultaneously trying to boost Seven & i’s valuation, according to people familiar with his thinking. Another independent board member will take over from him as head of the special committee.
Some investors have privately questioned whether Dacus leading the negotiations with the Canadian company represents a conflict of interest as he planned to take on the chief executive role.
Seven & i has consistently said that one of the big obstacles to a deal with Couche-Tard is antitrust issues in the US where the groups already occupy the top two spots.
Outgoing chief Isaka said on Thursday that despite discussions, there had been “no meaningful progress on finding a solution to the US antitrust challenges, hence the proposal has no assurance that it would be in the best interest of group shareholders”.
He added that Seven would “continue to examine and consider all strategic options, including the proposal from ACT to unlock value for our shareholders”.
Dacus said he did “not think our shareholders want for us to spend two years or more in limbo just for [an antitrust deal] to be rejected in US courts”.
Seven & i’s share price jumped as much as 10 per cent earlier on Thursday on reports of the expected announcements.
However, the stock is down 14 per cent so far this year. It fell sharply last month following the failure of a plan by the company’s founding family to launch a buyout, piling pressure on management to demonstrate they had a plan to improve operations.
Isaka was appointed head of Seven & i in 2016 and led a $21bn acquisition of Speedway, the US fuel and convenience store chain. However, he has been criticised by some investors who wanted the company to pay swifter attention to its core convenience store business and improve its capital allocation.
