Japanese investors and analysts are skeptical about whether Seven & i Holdings will still take 7-Eleven public in North America next year in the aftermath of the c-store retailer’s failed megamerger with Alimentation Couche-Tard, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Nearly a year after its initial bid, Circle K’s parent company withdrew its almost $50 billion buyout offer for Seven & i, operator of over 80,000 7-Eleven c-stores globally, late last week due to what it called a lack of engagement from Seven & i’s leadership. Couche-Tard emphasized that Seven & i lacked “good faith and judgement” during the process, although Seven & i called these accusations a mischaracterization.
Regardless of why the potential deal flopped, Couche-Tard is out, and there’s now little reason for Seven & i to take 7-Eleven public because it no longer needs to fend off an unsolicited offer, investors and analysts told Bloomberg last week.
“The company should keep holding its entire stake as the situation has changed,” Ikuo Mitsui, a fund manager at financial services firm Aizawa Securities Group, said in the report. “7-Eleven is the company’s crown jewel, and it makes more sense for it to keep its 100% stake, which should contribute to higher corporate value.”
Taku Sugawara, an analyst at financial services firm Iwai Cosmo Securities, told Bloomberg that Seven & i may have only considered taking 7-Eleven public to boost its own stock price as a means to fend off Couche-Tard’s bid. Since the deal is now off the table, “it’s possible for the company to end up scrapping the IPO plan,” Sugawara said in the report.
But Seven & i appears set on its plans despite what experts think.
Earlier this week in a letter to Couche-Tard, Seven & i’s special committee, spearheaded by Chair Paul Yonamine, said it believes management’s plan is “concrete and actionable,” and that the company is now “turning our full attention to creating value through our standalone plan” since talks with Couche-Tard have ceased.
“We know better than anyone that we need to perform and deliver,” the committee said in its letter. “Our hard work continues, and we look forward to updating our stakeholders later this summer.”
Seven & i revealed plans to take 7-Eleven public in North America back in March. The move, planned for the second half of 2026, is expected to leverage the chain’s ubiquity in the U.S. — where it has over 9,000 c-stores — and help it grow faster by giving it more flexibility and responsiveness to its customers while utilizing synergies with Seven & i.
Experts told C-Store Dive earlier this year that an IPO would generate significant capital for 7-Eleven in North America, allowing the convenience retailer to invest in its business. That could mean expanding its footprint, remodeling stores or continuing to build its foodservice capabilities.