Alimentation Couche-Tard is looking to acquire another major convenience store player in Seven & i, owners of the popular 7-Eleven convenience store chain.
The Canadian company, whose brands include Couche-Tard, Circle K and Ingo, "recently" sent a "friendly-nonbinding proposal" to Japan-based Seven & i, Couche-Tard revealed in a press release Monday.
Seven & i has a swath of convenience stores and supermarkets and other businesses under its umbrella, including 7-Eleven. It has about 85,000 total stores globally.
The owner of 7-Eleven described the Couche-Tard proposal as a "confidential, non-binding and preliminary" one that sought to "acquire all outstanding shares of the Company" in its own statement.
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Seven & i trades on Tokyo’s exchange.
The Japanese company promised a "prompt, careful and comprehensive" review of Couche-Tard’s offer using a newly formed special committee. That group is going to weigh its stand-alone plans and "other alternatives," the company said.
"Neither the Board of Directors nor the Special Committee has made any determination at this time to either accept or reject the proposal from ACT, to enter into discussions with ACT or to pursue any alternative transaction," Seven & i said.
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Couche-Tard said it was "focused on reaching a mutually agreeable transaction" but noted there "can be no certainty at this stage that any agreement or transaction will be reached."
An acquisition of Seven & i could potentially lead to a significant increase in Couche-Tard’s footprint beyond the 16,700 stores it operates.
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The companies are both slated to release their latest quarterly financial results in the next couple of months.
Couche-Tard said last week its first-quarter earnings were slated for a Sept. 4 release. Meanwhile, Seven & i plans to announce the results for its third quarter in October.
