Seven & i Holdings Expands in North America

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's Seven & i Holdings announced plans on Wednesday to open 500 new convenience stores in the United States and Canada by 2027.

The Ito family, the company's founders, made an offer worth an estimated $58 billion last month to take the company private, amid a competing offer from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard.

A spokesperson confirmed earlier reports by Kyodo about the North American convenience store expansion, part of Seven & i's strategy to grow to 100,000 stores in 30 countries by 2030.

Currently, Seven & i operates over 15,000 stores in North America but announced plans in October to close 444 underperforming stores in the region.

Bloomberg News reported this month that the Ito family aims to raise over 1 trillion yen ($6.52 billion) from a potential listing of Seven & i's North America convenience store business.

($1 = 153.3500 yen)