Investment Firm Pressures 7-Eleven Owner To Negotiate Potential Takeover

An American investment firm is pressuring the Japanese owner of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain to negotiate a potential takeover, calling it the "best tactic to preserve positive stakeholder outcomes."

Milwaukee-based Artisan Partners Asset Management told Japan's Seven & i Holdings that it should seriously consider a buyout bid from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard, Reuters reported Saturday.

In a letter dated Friday, Artisan portfolio managers David Samra and Benjamin Herrick gave Seven and i Holdings a Sept. 19 deadline to update investors on the status of the proposed deal, Reuters said.

Samra and Herrick said ACT, which owns the Circle-K convenience stores, was "uniquely positioned" to boost the "corporate value" of Seven & i Holdings, which also owns supermarkets in Japan and China, and other businesses.

"Negotiating with ACT is the best tactic to preserve positive stakeholder outcomes in Japan," they wrote. "It is imperative that the board of directors negotiate with ACT immediately to achieve the best possible outcome for shareholders."

Phone calls to Seven and i Holdings went unanswered Saturday, Reuters said, adding that the company has said it doesn't comment on individual shareholders.

Artisan holds 0.85% of Seven & i's outstanding shares, Reuters said, citing data from the London Stock Exchange Group.

Last week, ACT said it had approached Seven & i about a potential buyout, without saying what it was offering.

Seven & i confirmed that ACT had proposed buying all its outstanding shares, with Artisan saying it was troubled by a "lack of official communication" since then and "rumors" it might be trying to block a takeover.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Seven & i was seeking to be designated a "core" Japanese company, which would require the government to investigate any entity that wanted to buy more than 10% of its shares.