Alimentation Couche-Tard is not considering a hostile takeover bid for Japan's Seven & i, the Nikkei business daily quoted the Canadian suitor's chairman and co-founder, Alain Bouchard, as saying.
In an interview with Japanese media conducted in Canada, Bouchard said a hostile bid "was not among factors being considered," indicating the company's intention to secure an amicable acquisition deal, the Nikkei reported.
Initial Bid
Couche-Tard, which competes with Seven & i in the North American gas station market, in August made an initial bid to take over the Japanese retail giant.
It later raised its offer to $47 billion, in what would be the largest-ever foreign takeover of a Japanese company.
Seven & i, which operates more than 80,000 7-Eleven convenience stores around the world, is caught in a three-way tug-of-war between Couche-Tard, Seven & i's founding family, which is proposing a management buyout, and company management who say their growth plan can enhance value.
Bidding Price
Asked whether Couche-Tard could raise its bidding price further, CEO Alex Miller, who also attended the interview, said, "The current proposed price is attractive for all stakeholders."
The two companies have large shares in the United States convenience store market so a merger would likely face regulatory scrutiny and divestiture of stores in some regions to satisfy anti-monopoly rules.
In a Yomiuri newspaper report of the joint interview, Bouchard said his company had extended takeover proposals to Seven & i three times in all - in 2005, 2020 and 2024. He said it would take six months to deal with regulatory authorities after an acquisition and Couche-Tard had a plan on how to do so, Yomiuri reported.
Earlier this week, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that the founding Ito family behind Japanese retailer Seven & i aims to raise more than 8 trillion yen (€49 billion) to take it private by the end of this financial year.
