The ongoing situation between Canadian Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard and Japanese 7-Eleven owner Seven & i Holdings (7&i) is continuing to evolve — only this time, there is potentially an end in sight.
Discussions between the two c-store giants began in August 2024, when Couche-Tard lobbed a friendly proposal to acquire the 7-Eleven parent company for $38 billion — an offer that has since been increased to $49 billion.
The main concern raised by 7&i, however, was antitrust complications. As a result, the companies have come together to seek out potential North American buyers of Circle K stores should an actionable agreement be reached.
Now, Couche-Tard’s Chief Financial Officer, Filipe Da Silva, recently told Bloomberg that it has set aside around 2,000 North American c-stores to be divested should an agreement be reached with the Japanese company.
Da Silva said that interest for the sites is “really high,” since the 2,000-store network provides retailers with the opportunity to become one of the largest operator of c-stores in North America. He also stated that Couche-Tard has given potential buyers the deadline of the end of March to express their interest.
On 7&i’s side, the company is focusing on its core business while positioning itself to be ready for a potential sale.
Earlier in March, the Japanese company announced some significant operational changes, including the appointment of Stephen Hayes as its new president, representative director and CEO, which will be effective in May.
Additionally, 7&i revealed its plans to pursue a North American IPO for its business by the end of 2026.
“The group is executing key actions that are concrete, actionable and value accretive. We have been on a journey to explore opportunities that create the most value for our shareholders and enhance our customers’ experiences around the world,” said Ryuichi Isaka, president. “This is the right time to move these initiatives forward, and the management team is excited to execute our transformation strategy while remaining focused on identifying avenues to continue driving shareholder value.”
The company also announced a $5.4 billion agreement with Bain Capital to sell its Superstore Business Group, which included grocery retail, specialties and other retail business.
Both organizations are in talks to work out a potential divestiture package, which would be “unprecedented in scope and size,” that could be divested to a “viable, credible and independent buyer in a manner that could be stood up to operate effectively on a go-forward basis and assure competition between (Couche-Tard) and the buyer of the divested stores, even after a transaction,” 7&i wrote in a recent statement.
