7-Eleven Australia has put itself up for sale, according to a statement issued by the retailer’s board. “On behalf of the shareholders of 7-Eleven Holdings, the board has commenced a process to facilitate a change of ownership of the business in Australia,” Chairman of 7-Eleven Holdings Michael Smith said.
“The process is at an early stage and is expected to take a number of months,” he said.
The chain of more than 700 convenience stores is privately owned by the Withers and Barlow families, who have a license to operate and franchise 7-Eleven stores in Australia from Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven Inc.
“7-Eleven has an unrivalled brand and convenience footprint in the attractive fuel and convenience market in Australia,” Smith continued. “The business has great momentum and a compelling strategy for growth across convenient food, the continued transformation of our total merchandise offer, digital and format innovation and new stores. With such a strong platform in place, the shareholders have decided that the time is right for new ownership of the business to oversee the next phase of our growth and development.”
From a single store in suburban Oakleigh, Victoria, in August 1977, 7-Eleven Holdings has grown to be Australia’s largest private fuel and convenience retailer, with a network of approximately 750 stores across Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory (ACT is Australia’s equivalent of Washington, D.C., home to the capital city of Canberra), Queensland and Western Australia, the Melbourne-based company said. It processes 250 million transactions each year and employs more than 9,000 people across the corporate and franchise network.
“The company has made significant progress in recent years on a number of fronts and is performing well under a highly credentialed management team, with an exciting outlook for growth,” said Russell Withers—a member of one of the founding families behind 7-Eleven Australia, and who owns 50% of the company—commenting on behalf of 7-Eleven’s shareholders. “As such, the Withers and Barlow families have decided that the time is right to review options for the future ownership of the business with a view to setting it up for future growth and success.”
Seven & i, based in Tokyo, was founded in 1920 as Ito-Yokado, a chain of department stores. In 1991, Ito-Yokado acquired majority control of 7-Eleven in the United States and internationally. Seven & i was established in 2005 as part of a corporate restructuring to serve as the holding company of Ito-Yokado, Seven-Eleven Japan, Denny’s Japan and other businesses.
- 7-Eleven Inc. is No. 1 on CSP’s 2023 Top 40 update to the 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Based in Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven Inc. operates, franchises or licenses more than 83,000 convenience stores in 19 countries and regions, including more than 13,000 7-Eleven convenience stores in the United States and Canada. In addition, it operates and franchises Speedway, Stripes, Laredo Taco Company and Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits locations.
7-Eleven Inc. did not respond to a CSP request for comment.
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