7-Eleven Owner’s Shares Surge Following Report of CEO’s Departure

TOKYO, 3rd March 2025 (BSS/AFP) – Shares in Seven & i, the Japanese parent company of the renowned convenience store chain 7-Eleven, surged by over four percent on Monday after reports emerged stating that the company’s CEO would step down.

Last week, Seven & i confirmed that its founding family had failed to secure a “white knight” buyout to prevent a takeover bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT).

According to a report by Japan’s Nikkei business daily, Seven & i’s president, Ryuichi Isaka, is set to be replaced by outside director Stephen Hayes Dacus, who will become the retailer’s first foreign CEO. Dacus brings with him extensive experience, having held senior roles at several leading global retail firms, including Walmart and Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo.

A formal decision regarding the CEO replacement will be made at an upcoming board meeting, sources close to the matter told the newspaper. Jiji Press also confirmed that Isaka would step down.

In response to the report, a Seven & i spokesperson stated, “This was not an official announcement from our company. There is no such fact.”

Shares of Seven & i experienced a significant spike, rising as much as 4.6 percent before settling to a modest increase of 0.1 percent by mid-morning.

With over 85,000 locations globally, 7-Eleven is the largest convenience store chain in the world. Originally established in the United States, it has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.

ACT, which started with a single store in Quebec in 1980, now operates nearly 17,000 convenience store outlets worldwide, including the Circle K chain.

Last year, Seven & i rejected an offer worth almost $40 billion from ACT, which would have been the largest-ever foreign acquisition of a Japanese company.

Despite ACT reportedly improving its bid, Seven & i announced in November that it was considering a counteroffer from its founding Ito family, valued at approximately eight trillion yen ($53 billion). The Ito family was said to be negotiating financing from top Japanese banks and firms such as Itochu Corp, the owner of FamilyMart.

However, Seven & i revealed on Thursday that it had been informed that procuring the necessary funds for such a buyout would be “difficult.”

In response, ACT stated, “We look forward to working constructively with Seven & i to reach a friendly agreement.”

In September, when Seven & i initially turned down ACT’s first takeover offer, the company argued that the bid “grossly” undervalued its business and warned of potential regulatory challenges.