Couche-Tard advances deal talks for Seven & i with access to books
Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) and Japan's Seven & i said they have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that will give the Canadian company access to the Japanese retailer's financial data as it seeks a $47 billion acquisition.
The move represents progress in takeover talks for Couche-Tard, which operates the Circle-K convenience stores in Canada and the United States and has been trying to acquire Seven & i since August.
The detailed terms of the agreement will remain confidential, 7-Eleven operator Seven & i said in a statement on Thursday. The agreement also includes a "standstill" clause, which protects target companies from hostile takeovers.
Couche-Tard has said that access to "fulsome diligence information" may allow it to improve its proposal. The current offer of around $47 billion would already be the largest ever takeover of a Japanese company by a foreign buyer.
"The execution of the NDA is a positive step in the constructive engagement process with ACT," Paul Yonamine, who chairs Seven & i's independent special committee to examine bids, said in the company's statement.
Seven & i has previously said that until now Couche-Tard's refusal to agree to "standard protections" in a friendly deal, such as a standstill provision, has prevented an NDA from being signed.
It has also argued that antitrust hurdles in the U.S. are a principal barrier to the deal, but since March the two have been working together on finding a buyer for over 2,000 stores that are candidates for divestment.
While fielding the takeover bid, Seven & i has accelerated an overhaul of its management and business operations that includes selling off non-core business lines, appointing a new chief executive, and proposing four new board members.
Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended shareholders support the appointment of the new CEO, Stephen Dacus, and the new board members, according to a report seen by Reuters.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
an hour ago
- The Mainichi
No tariff deal with US as differences remain: Japan PM
BANFF, Canada (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday differences remain with the United States over tariffs, stressing the need for a "package" deal that can protect Japan's national interests. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Canada, Ishiba refrained from giving a specific time frame for a possible bilateral deal. He also said that the auto sector is a "huge part" of Japan's national interests that should be protected, with the United States having imposed higher tariffs on cars and auto parts among other items.
The Mainichi
2 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Japan, US leaders hold talks on G7 fringes
BANFF, Canada (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump held talks Monday on the fringes of the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Canada, a Japanese official said. Their half-hour meeting followed rounds of tariff negotiations at the ministerial level in which Japan called for a rethink of Trump's tariff policy. Asked about the just-ended meeting, Trump said it went "well." He said earlier that a "few new trade deals" would be in the offing, though he did not say they would include one with Japan. The face-to-face meeting was their first since February, when Ishiba flew to Washington to sit down with Trump. In a show of the importance both leaders attach to bilateral relations, Ishiba and Trump have spoken by phone four times since their first meeting as tariff negotiations led by their ministers continued. Trump, who is known for his unpredictability, effectively approved the takeover of United States Steel Corp. by Nippon Steel Corp. in a dramatic turn of events just days before the leaders were to meet at the two-day G7 gathering in Kananaskis. The U.S. leader's tariff salvo, intended to rectify what he sees as imbalanced trade, has added a new twist to an alliance that has otherwise remained rock solid. Japan and the United States are aiming for a "golden age" for bilateral relations by boosting defense and security cooperation in the face of a severe security environment in the Indo-Pacific and are working together on other key fronts such as artificial intelligence and chips.
Asahi Shimbun
3 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Tea for two: Fuji city joins Onigiri Society
Roasted green tea, left, and ordinary green tea made from leaves grown in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture (Provided by the city government of Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture) FUJI, Shizuoka Prefecture--In tea-growing Shizuoka Prefecture, the Fuji city government announced it has joined the Onigiri Society, a private-sector group, in hopes of capitalizing on a recent craze for Japanese rice balls. Onigiri are typically wrapped in dried seaweed and stuffed with any number of tasty fillings. The Onigiri Society initiated the overture as tea is a typical accompaniment for onigiri. For Fuji, being the first local government and tea-producing area to join the society represents a 'golden opportunity,' said Mayor Yoshimasa Konagai. Fuji city officials said they plan to work on joint programs with businesses and local governments that are fellow members of the Onigiri Society to help expand sales channels and develop new tea products. Founded in 2014, the Onigiri Society has worked to promote the charms of the eponymous rice balls to audiences both in Japan and overseas. The society defines onigiri as Japanese 'fast food' that is also 'slow food' in that onigiri are made of rice, salt and nori with a tantalizing array of ingredients as fillings. Since its founding, the society has been run by corporate members across a range of industries with onigiri connections, such as food manufacturers, makers of rice cookers, a convenience store chain operator and a travel agency. The Onigiri Society has sought to expand its membership to local governments since fiscal 2023. Eleven municipalities with connections to rice, as well as other onigiri ingredients and miso soup, had joined the society by the end of fiscal 2024. These include Minami-Uonuma in Niigata Prefecture, which is famed for rice; Yanagawa in Fukuoka Prefecture, where nori is farmed; Imabari in Ehime Prefecture, which is known for salt; Minabe in Wakayama Prefecture, which is renowned for ume Japanese apricot; and Rausu, Hokkaido, for sea tangle. Yusuke Nakamura, who heads the Onigiri Society, said members were keen to welcome an entity with tea connections. Nakamura said he visited Fuji after learning from a beverage manufacturer and Onigiri Society member that demand for roasted green tea is growing outside Japan. He also discovered that Fuji city authorities had organized promotional tea events in Paris. 'The city's territory extends from Mount Fuji to the ocean,' Nakamura said. 'Both landscapes impressed me. And all that is just right for onigiri, which are born of a marriage of food from the land with products of the sea. The city has been working earnestly on roasted green tea, which is also wonderful.' He said he already has plans for presenting tea culture at an event to be held in New York from June through July. In Fuji, tea is the leading farm product in terms of planted area. However, the cultivated land has shrunk to less than half of the levels of 30 years ago due to falling prices. The Fuji city government has worked with the private sector to pursue new forms of the tea business. It issued a 'roasted green tea declaration' in 2021 and has since been developing roasted green tea and related products, including sweets. City authorities also advertised tea to an audience of Parisian restaurants and retailers in 2023 and 2024 and expanded the lineup of stores that sell Fuji tea. The Fuji city government plans to take part in events organized by the Onigiri Society and local governments, and also host the society's 'Onigiri Summit' in years to come. 'Onigiri and tea are symbols of Japan that are well-known and loved both at home and abroad,' Konagai told a May 7 news conference. 'Membership in the society will allow us to work on various projects, so it is a golden opportunity for spreading (Fuji's tea) to the rest of the world.'
