Couche-Tard Won’t Seek Hostile Seven & I Takeover, Nikkei Says

By Reed Stevenson

November 21, 2024 at 7:35PM EST

Alain Bouchard, chairman and founder of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., during an interview in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Couche-Tard is interested in buying the entirety of Seven & i Holdings Co., and will keep the local operations of the Japanese convenience store and retail giant intact, Bouchard said. Photographer: Hideki Suzuki/Bloomberg (Hideki Suzuki/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Alain Bouchard, founder and chairman of Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., says he isn’t considering a hostile takeover bid for Seven & i Holdings Co. while keeping his proposal for a ¥7.3 trillion ($47.3 billion) buyout on the table, according to a Nikkei report.

After Bouchard and Couche-Tard executives traveled to Tokyo last month to seek a meeting with the Japanese retailer’s management, a competing ¥9 trillion management buyout proposal came from the founding Ito family with support from banks and Itochu Corp.

Seven & i’s board has yet to respond to either offer.