7-Eleven shares rise as rival Couche-Tard makes new takeover offer

Shares of the owner of convenience store giant 7-Eleven jumped on Wednesday after the company received a new takeover offer from Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Japan’s Seven & i Holdings confirmed the new approach but did not provide any new details.

The announcement came after Bloomberg News reported that the new offer valued the company at more than $47 billion (£36 billion) – around 20% higher than before.

In September, Seven & i rejected a $38 billion proposal from Couche-Tardit severely undervalued the company and any potential takeover would face major regulatory hurdles.

Shares in Seven & i ended the day up 4.7% in Tokyo, after initially rising 9.5%.

The new offer was reportedly presented to Seven & i on September 19 and no discussions have taken place between the two sides since then.

Seven & i said it “will continue to act in the best interests of its shareholders and other stakeholders.”

After the previous offer was rejected, Seven & i was added by Japan’s Finance Ministry to a list of companies deemed “of central importance” to the country’s national security.

The move, widely believed to have little impact on Couche-Tard’s takeover attempt, forces potential foreign investors in such Japanese companies to seek government scrutiny.

A Japanese company the size of Seven & i has never been bought by an overseas company.

Historically, companies from Japan were more likely to buy foreign companies.

Last year, the Japanese government issued new guidelines on mergers and acquisitions, urging companies not to reject credible takeover offers without proper review.

7-Eleven is the world’s largest convenience store chain with 85,000 stores in 20 countries and territories.

If the deal goes through, Couche-Tard’s presence in the U.S. and Canada would more than double at approximately 20,000 locations, creating a 100,000-strong global convenience store chain.