这将有助于减少计划用于融资杠杆收购的6万亿日元贷款，从而使得包括瑞穗金融和三井住友金融在内的日本银行更容易接受这笔交易，以抵御加拿大Alimentation Couche-Tard的收购企图。The North American asset IPO of Japanese retail giant Seven & i, the parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, aims to raise more than 1 trillion yen (about 6.3 billion US dollars).
In 1987, facing rumours of a Canadian takeover, Dallas-based 7-Eleven operator Southland Corporation announced plans to privatize the company — that is, to be taken over by its founding family. Today, the Ito family, which is behind the Japanese parent company of the American chain, may list these convenience store businesses to maintain control. It's an imperfect solution to a pressing problem.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that the North American asset initial public offering of 7-11 convenience store chain and Japanese retail giant Seven & i aims to raise more than 1 trillion yen (about 6.3 billion US dollars). Previously, the group's founder, the Ito Family, led a proposal to privatize Seven & i Holdings, which is listed in Japan, for 9 trillion yen (about 57 billion US dollars).
This will help reduce the 6 trillion yen loan planned to finance leveraged acquisitions, making it easier for banks of Japan, including Mizuho Finance and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance, to accept the deal to withstand Canada's Alimentation Couche-?$#@$ takeover attempts.
Before Couche-?$#@$ proposed the acquisition, the only planned IPO by Seven & i management was its supermarket business in Japan. This shows that the listed US business is mainly a reaction to Couche-Tard's takeover offer, rather than a move with long-term strategic interests in the group.
Additionally, any new listing is likely to trade at a valuation discount below its unpopular suitor. The easiest comparison standard is Seven & i's global convenience store business, as annual results show that the US business accounts for 95% of the business unit's external revenue.
According to Visible Alpha, the international business will generate 563 billion yen of EBITDA in the fiscal year ending February 2025. Based on Couche Tard's 11x price-earnings ratio, 7-Eleven's US business is worth about 38 billion dollars. This means Seven & i will need to sell approximately 17% of its business to meet its reported funding target. But since its profit margins lag behind its rivals and suitors, it may need to sell more shares at a lower price-earnings ratio.
So while the promise of a listing may reassure banks financing the acquisition and help speed up Seven & i's exit from the public market, it also has risks and could put the family in the predicament they are trying to avoid: public scrutiny of their precious assets will increase, and more unpopular suitors may emerge.
