The future of 7-Eleven Inc., the North American arm of international c-store giant Seven & i Holdings, remains up in the air, as leadership mulls a potential sale to Alimentation Couche-Tard alongside preparing to spin 7-Eleven off into its own company.
During Seven & i’s earnings report last week, officials discussed why the company decided to pursue an IPO in the second half of 2026 and how it’s shoring up its operations in preparation for going public.
“The reason we chose [to] IPO was because we felt that the intrinsic value of our [convenience store] business in North America was not reflected in our current share price,” said a Seven & i official in a company Q&A released Wednesday morning.
If the IPO commences, 7-Eleven would become independent but keep Seven & i as its majority shareholder. This would allow both companies to continue taking advantage of synergies between their businesses while letting 7-Eleven control its finances and dictate its M&A priorities, incoming CEO and current director Stephen Dacus said in a statement on Wednesday.
Seven & i plans to buy back stock worth 2 trillion yen, or about $13.2 billion, after the IPO, Dacus said.
“As we work through the exact timing, we will continue to be mindful of the operational performance of the business as well as the equity market conditions in the U.S.,” said Dacus.
As 7-Eleven gears up to go public, it’s working to fine-tune its operations as well.
Seven & i leaders said in the Q&A that although the compound annual growth rate for its operating profit was 15% between 2006 and 2023, that growth has slowed recently.
The official said 7-Eleven needs to focus on cutting costs while improving efficiency and productivity so it can “reinvest the resources” gained from these reductions into “new products, digital and delivery.” 7-Eleven’s forward-looking plans include growing its delivery program, 7Now, as well as expanding foodservice, closing underperforming stores and opening new ones.
Officials also emphasized bringing “the high quality of Japanese food to the American market” as a means to boost operations.
The company has made some progress on this front. It regularly launches new food options in partnership with Japanese meal producer Warabeya Nichiyo. The commissary company now has production facilities in Texas and Virginia making foods for 7-Eleven stores, with the opening of a site in Ohio delayed from September 2025 to the summer of 2026.
The new Warabeya facility could also help improve 7-Eleven’s supply chain, a Seven & i official said.
“Excellent supply chains are already in place in Japan, and it is important to replicate and further accelerate these in the U.S. We believe this is the key to maximising potential.”
