7-Eleven's owner is set to replace its CEO as the Japanese convenience store giant battles a $47-billion takeover bid by Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT), reports said Monday.
Last week Seven & i said its founding family failed to put together a buyout to fend off ACT's offer, which would be the largest foreign acquisition of a Japanese firm.
Japan's Nikkei business daily and other media reported that Seven & i's president Ryuichi Isaka would be replaced by outside director Stephen Hayes Dacus.
Dacus, who has also worked for Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing and the Japanese arm of U.S. retail giant Walmart, would also be Seven & i's first foreign CEO.
A formal decision will be made at a board meeting, the reports said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Dacus currently heads a special committee tasked with evaluating ACT's bid, which the Canadian firm has already sweetened.
Dacus and the committee are expected over the next few weeks to unveil strategic proposals to increase the company's value ahead of an annual shareholder meeting in May, the Financial Times reported.
"There have been reports in some news media regarding the management of Seven & i," the company said in a statement. "However this information was not announced by the Company and no decision has been made by the company at this time."
Seven & i shares soared as much as 12 percent on Thursday on news that the company's founding Ito family had failed to put together financing for its alternative offer.
On Monday they rose as much as 4.6 percent and closed up 2.37 percent.
With around 85,000 outlets, 7-Eleven is the world's biggest convenience store brand.
The franchise began in the United States, but it has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.
ACT, which began with one store in Quebec in 1980, now runs nearly 17,000 convenience store outlets worldwide including the Circle K chain.
ACT said on Friday that it still hoped to achieve a "friendly agreement".
In September, when Seven & i rejected the initial takeover offer from ACT, the company said it had "grossly" undervalued its business and could face regulatory hurdles.
© 2025 AFP
10 Comments
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JeffLee
Is this the usual Japanese corporate strategy to bring in a foreigner to do the dirty but necessary work? And then once they've rescued the pathetic management, to throw him in jail?
I'd advise Mr. Dacus not to say or write anything about your future compensation.
Namahage
Doing a Ghosn?
Olympus tried it,too.
Pin the tail on the Gaijin.
YeahRight
Looks like a regular 7-Eleven to me.
Yubaru
I hope he knows what he is getting into. From the "inside" here in Japan, corporations have not been kind, historically speaking, to foreign CEO's.
Could this be a case of looking for a fall guy to blame?
Yubaru
Dont let a little thing like facts bother you here.
WoodyLee
May be Mr. Dacus should talk to Mr. Ghosn first.
CaptDingleheimer
He’ll be OK, as 7-11 was originally an American company.
They were out to get Gohsn from the beginning because Nissan is a nearly 100-year old Japanese company. A foreigner in charge was completely unacceptable.
WoodyLee
Slowly but surly 7-11 is beginning to show signs of cracks under the pressure of a $47-billion !! and who wouldn't
HopeSpringsEternal
7-11 and all convenience stores rapidly losing relevance in digital and robot delivery autonomous age and soon nobody will be buying gas as well, as most prefer to plug their cars in at night once a week vs. pumping gas.
WA4TKG
I was going to mention Ghosen, but half a dozen people beat me to it