Japan’s Seven & i strikes $5.4 billion deal with Bain Capital

Japan’s Seven & i, the parent company of the Japanese 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said Thursday it is selling its supermarket store assets to Bain Capital for about $5.4 billion.

The company announced the deal a day after naming Stephen Dacus, its board chairman, to be its president and CEO.

It also said it plans an initial public offering in the U.S. of 7-Eleven or SEI, its convenience store business in North America, by the end of 2026. Funds from the IPO and the sale to Bain will be returned to shareholders in the form of share buybacks worth 2 trillion yen ($5.4 billion).

Seven & i’s share price jumped 6.1% in Tokyo.

The deal follows Seven & i’s rejection of a takeover bid by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard. Dacus said earlier that the offer had undervalued the potential of the convenience store business and failed to fully address U.S. regulatory concerns.

The 7-Eleven franchise includes 86,000 stores in the U.S., Japan and other Asian nations.

Last year, Seven & i announced a restructuring plan to strengthen its U.S. operations and streamline operations, closing some Ito-Yokado supermarkets in Japan.

The omnipresent 7-Eleven convenience stores remain popular in Japan, having replaced many mom and pop shops. Convenience stores are a mainstay in many neighborhoods.

Seven & i earlier sold its Sogo & Seibu department stores in Japan to Fortress Investment Group, a U.S. fund, for $1.5 billion. It said it also plans to reduce its share in Seven Bank

—Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer

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