Shares of Japan’s Seven & I tumbled as much as 12 per cent on Tuesday, following a report the 7-Eleven owner plans to reject a US$47 billion takeover offer from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, a move that would keep the iconic retailer in Japanese hands.
The shares were down 8 per cent at 2023 yen in afternoon trade in Tokyo having earlier declined as much as 12 per cent, touching their lowest in a little more than six months.
The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday that Seven & I planned to reject the takeover offer from Circle-K owner Couche-Tard and instead seek to enhance corporate value on its own.
The retailing giant is finalising a plan for CEO Ryuichi Isaka to step down with his replacement almost certain to be director Stephen Dacus, Reuters has reported.
Dacus heads a special committee to evaluate the takeover bid from Couche-Tard and a take-private deal from Seven & I’s founding family that recently collapsed.
- Reporting by Sam Nussey and David Dolan; Editing by Sandra Maler and Christopher Cushing, of Reuters.
