Trading in Seven & i halted after Couche-Tard withdraws $47 billion bid

Trading in Japan’s Seven & i was halted Thursday after Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard withdrew its $47 billion bid to acquire the retailer.

Convenience store operator Couche-Tard announced Wednesday that it was pulling its takeover bid for Japan’s Seven & i Holdings, saying there was a “persistent lack of good faith engagement.”

“There has been no sincere or constructive engagement from 7&i that would facilitate the advancement of any proposal, contrary to comments made publicly by 7&i representatives,” the Canadian retailer said in a statement.

Seven & i in 2024 rejected a buyout bid from Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard. Couche-Tard had initially made an offer of $14.86 per share to acquire Seven & i in August last year. The offer was rejected, with Seven & i saying it “grossly undervalues” the company.

The company then reportedly raised its offer in October by over 22% to $18.19 per share, valuing Seven & i at 7 trillion Japanese yen, or about $47 billion.

“As we have expressed many times, we do believe that fully combining our two companies is the most straightforward and effective way to maximize value to all stakeholders,” Couche-Tard said. “However, we are not able to effectively pursue this combination without deeper and genuine further engagement from 7&i leadership and the special committee.”

Seven & i Holdings replaced Ryuichi Isaka as CEO with outside director Stephen Dacus taking the helm in May.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

— CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.