Seven & i exploring sale of retail, supermarket units, Bloomberg says
04/10/2024 05:04
TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Seven & i Holdings
3382.T has approached private equity funds and other parties
about a potential sale of its Ito-Yokado stores and
supermarkets, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar
with the matter.
Based on earnings multiples, the sale value could reach 320
billion yen ($2.19 billion), Bloomberg said, citing one of the
sources. That follows a report on Thursday that Seven & i is
considering selling part of its Seven Bank 8410.T unit.
A Seven & i spokesperson, responding to the report, said:
"It is not something officially announced by our company, and we
do not comment on market rumours."
Last month, the parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience
store chain rejected a $38.5 billion offer from Canada's
Alimentation Couche-Tard ATD.TO that would have been the
largest corporate foreign buyout of a Japanese company.
Seven & i has been under pressure from activist investor
ValueAct Capital in recent years to improve its asset allocation
and has sold down stakes in other lower-performing assets.
The company said in April it was considering a listing of
its superstore business, which mainly comprises supermarkets, as
part of a plan to maximise corporate value.
($1 = 146.4400 yen)
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
((rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))