Seven & i Holdings, the Japanese retail conglomerate at the heart of a high-profile takeover battle, is finalizing a plan for its president, Ryuichi Isaka, to step down and be replaced by the company’s first foreign chief executive. According to a report by Nikkei on Monday, Isaka will resign and be succeeded by director Stephen Dacus, an outside director since 2022. Dacus has been leading a special committee to evaluate a $47 billion takeover bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, as well as a failed attempt by Seven & i’s founding Ito family to take the company private.
Nikkei added that a board meeting is scheduled soon to finalize the leadership transition. However, a company spokesperson clarified that the information had not come from Seven & i, and no final decisions had been made.
Following the report, Seven & i’s stock surged by as much as 4.6%.
The Ito family, which founded Seven & i, began discussions last year to privatize the company in what would have been the largest management buyout in history. However, Seven & i announced last week that it had been unable to secure financing for the projected $58 billion deal. Meanwhile, Couche-Tard reaffirmed its commitment to negotiating a mutually beneficial transaction with the retailer.
If Couche-Tard successfully acquires Seven & i, it would mark the largest-ever takeover of a Japanese company.
In September, Seven & i was designated as “core” to Japan’s national security, though the country’s finance ministry later stated that it would not obstruct a buyout.
Separately, Seven & i is reportedly nearing a deal to sell non-core assets to private equity firm Bain Capital, according to Reuters.
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