By Kosaku Narioka
Seven & i Holdings shares fell sharply after Alimentation Couche-Tard abandoned its $47 billion bid to buy the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven, ending a yearslong pursuit.
Shares were recently 8.0% lower at 2,033 yen, equivalent to $13.75, on Thursday in Tokyo after falling as much as 9.6% earlier.
Leaders at Couche-Tard, which operates the Circle K chain as well as its namesake banner in Canada, said late Wednesday that Seven & i's leadership hadn't cooperated in meetings and withheld information needed to close the deal.
Seven & i said that while it was disappointed by Couche-Tard's decision and disagreed with what it said were mischaracterizations, it wasn't surprised. The Japanese company said its special committee had consistently engaged constructively and in good faith with Couche-Tard to explore the possibility of reaching a deal.
The combination would have created a behemoth in the convenience-store space, combining Couche-Tard's nearly 17,000-store footprint with the approximately 87,000 operated by Seven & i.
The 7-Eleven owner in September rejected an initial $39 billion buyout bid from Couche-Tard, saying the proposal underestimated the company's value. Couche-Tard later raised its offer to about $47 billion and in January submitted a revised, yen-denominated proposal at Seven & i's request.
Seven & i said the company was always honest about the extraordinary antitrust hurdles a potential transaction would face, including the protracted timeframe to move through the regulatory process.
Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 16, 2025 22:01 ET (02:01 GMT)
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