Even as activist investors urge it to spin off retail assets to increase value, Japan's Seven & i Holdings, through its subsidiaries, has moved to acquire Australian licensee Convenience Group Holdings Pty Ltd., bda 7-Eleven Stores.
Specifically, 7-Eleven International LLC has entered into an agreement to purchase 7-Eleven Australia, the largest independent convenience-store chain in Australia. As part of the agreement, 7-Eleven International will acquire 100% of the shares of 7-Eleven Australia for $1.13 billion (U.S.) in cash.
7-Eleven Australia operates 751 stores and is a long-standing licensee of 7-Eleven.
"The acquisition of 7-Eleven Australia demonstrates our commitment to growing 7-Eleven's operations globally," said 7-Eleven International Co-CEO's Shin Abe and Ken Wakabayashi in a statement. "We are looking forward to continuing to enhance the 7-Eleven brand in Australia, which enjoys a long-standing presence and unrivaled brand recognition with customers."
7-Eleven Australia has been led by the Withers and Barlow families since 1977. The company processes 250 million transactions each year and employs more than 9,000 people across the corporate and franchise network.
"The acquisition by 7-Eleven International is a vote of confidence in our people, our strategy, and the future of 7-Eleven Australia," said CEO and managing director of 7-Eleven Australia, Angus McKay. "The business has strong momentum and an exciting outlook for growth. Our customers will continue to come first, and we will remain focused on the transformation of our total merchandise and fuel offer, the evolution of our convenient food proposition, digital and format innovation, as well as the rollout of new stores."
7-Eleven International LLC is a joint venture between 7-Eleven Inc., Irving, Texas, and Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd., which are owned by the holding company, Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd.
- 7-Eleven is No. 1 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Globally, the 7-Eleven trademark is represented in over 84,000 stores in 20 countries and regions. 7-Eleven International master franchises and/or licenses approximately 48,000 stores in 16 countries and regions. 7-Eleven Inc. operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 15,000 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd. operates and franchises more than 21,000 stores in Japan.
Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd., is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, a Japanese diversified retail holding company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market.
Over the past two year, San Francisco-based stakeholder ValueAct Capital has urged Seven & i to fix what it sees as corporate governance and management issues not aligned with shareholder value and to “more than double” the company’s share price. Since then, Seven & i has “intensively engaged in constructive discussions with domestic and overseas institutional investors and shareholders in order to globalize its businesses and implement reforms in consideration of the voices from capital markets,” the company said. “Based on the input obtained in that process, the company has been seriously reviewing its board structure and what additional experience and skills are required.”
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