7-Eleven gets takeover offer from Circle K owner

Tokyo-based Seven & i Holdings says it has formed a special committee to decide whether or not to accept the offer.

Shares in Seven & i jumped by more than 20% on the news.

That gave the Japanese firm a stock market valuation of around 5.6tn yen ($38.5bn; £29.7bn).

In a statement, Seven & i said it had "received a confidential, non-binding and preliminary proposal by ACT to acquire all [of its] outstanding shares".

"[The] Special Committee intends to conduct a prompt, careful and comprehensive review of the proposal," it added.

If a deal is agreed it could face challenges from competition watchdogs in North America as 7-Eleven owns more than 13,000 stores in the US and Canada, while Couche-Tard has over 9,000.

In recent years, activist investors have pressured Seven & i to sell some of its assets to focus the company on the 7-Eleven brand and its global convenience store business.

7-Eleven was first brought to Japan from the US in 1974 by retail tycoon Masatoshi Ito.

Ito, who died in 2023 aged 98, is credited with turning the convenience store chain into a global business empire.

Today, 7-Eleven has 85,000 outlets worldwide in 20 countries and territories and has a large footprint in Asia.

Quebec-based ACT is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and runs around 17,000 shops in more than 30 countries and territories across North America Europe and Asia under the Circle K and Couche-Tard brands.

It has a stock market valuation of about 80bn Canadian dollars ($58.2bn; £45bn).

-BBC