TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Seven & i Holdings said on Monday that talks have begun with Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) over a store sale plan that would set the stage for the latter’s $47 billion takeover bid.
Last week, the 7-Eleven convenience store operator named Stephen Dacus as its new CEO to lead a recovery and respond to the takeover offer from Couche-Tard.
Seven & i has said U.S. antitrust law would be a barrier to any deal. The companies are the top two players in the U.S. convenience store market, with about 20,000 locations between them.
In a letter to shareholders on Monday, Seven & i said it proposed that the two companies could map out the viability of a divestiture process and identify potential buyers.
Couche-Tard “recently agreed” to the proposal that would allow for an assessment of the Canadian company’s buyout offer, Seven & i said.
Separately, Seven & i said Joseph Michael DePinto stepped down as a director of the holding company while remaining the chief executive of 7-Eleven Inc.
Top executives from Couche-Tard are due to visit Tokyo this week to speak with media about their takeover bid.
Artisan Partners, a U.S.-based investor in Seven & i Holdings, said on Sunday it opposed the Japanese retailer’s CEO succession plan and urged the company to reconsider Couche-Tard’s takeover offer.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Tom Hogue and Stephen Coates)
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