It's a red, eye-winking owl, well known to Canadians, that's now eying one of its global competitors. On Monday, August 19, Alimentation Couche-Tard, owner of convenience stores and service stations, said it had made a "friendly offer" to buy the Japanese holding company Seven & I, owner of the world-famous 7-Eleven convenience stores. The Japanese group said it had formed a special committee to evaluate the Canadian proposal. "Neither the board of directors nor the special committee has made any determination at this time to either accept or reject the proposal from ACT [Alimentation Couche-Tard], to enter into discussions (...) or to pursue any alternative transaction," the group said in a statement.

Couche-Tard, which is based in Laval, Quebec, said in a press release that it was focused on "reaching a mutually agreeable transaction that benefits both companies' customers, employees, franchisees and shareholders. There can be no certainty at this stage that any agreement or transaction will be reached." No amount for a possible transaction has been disclosed. Couche-Tard did not respond to Le Monde's inquiries. The deal, the biggest offensive by a foreign company in Japan, would create a global retail giant with sales of around €135 billion.

On Monday, the proposed takeover boosted Seven & I's share price, which jumped 23% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, valuing the retailer at around $38 billion (€35 billion). Owned since 2005 by Seven & I Holdings, 7-Eleven is originally an American company, created in Dallas, Texas, in 1927. This giant with 86,000 convenience stores worldwide – approximately a quarter of them in Japan – operates five times as many stores as its Quebec counterpart.

The Couche-Tard retail network boasts some 17,000 dépanneurs– convenience stores and gas stations selling basic foodstuffs, newspapers and cigarettes – which originated in Quebec in the 1960s and are still particularly well adapted to Canada's vast spaces where the population is sometimes a long way from urban centers. It has sales of around C$95 billion (€63 billion) and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange at C$80 billion. According to the Japanese daily Nikkei, discussions between the two groups have been ongoing for several years. In 2020, Couche-Tard was even turned down.

Attempt to take over Carrefour

Also on Monday, Alimentation Couche-Tard announced the acquisition of 270 GetGo Café + Market convenience and fuel stores from US supermarket chain Giant Eagle. GetGo has around 3,500 employees. The value of the transaction is not known.

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