HeAs it fights off a takeover attempt by a Canadian competitor, the Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven announced a significant restructuring on Thursday, which includes appointing its first foreign-born chief executive.
Seven & i Holdings revealed that Stephen Dacus, 64, a board member and experienced retail executive from the United States, will assume the CEO role in May.
Additionally, the company announced plans to launch an initial public offering for its U.S. convenience store business, which operates over 13,000 7-Eleven locations across the country.
These strategic moves are part of Seven & i’s efforts to resist an acquisition by the Canadian retail conglomerate Alimentation Couche-Tard, which owns the Circle K convenience store chain.
Couche-Tard has proposed a roughly $47 billion deal to acquire control of Seven & i, marking the largest-ever foreign-led bid for a Japanese company.
Japan’s corporate sector, which for decades largely resisted external influence, is experiencing a shift as foreign investors increasingly assert their presence.
The leadership changes and restructuring at Seven & i, whose convenience stores are deeply ingrained in Japan’s daily life, serve as yet another sign of this transformation.
Activist investors have long pressured Seven & i to separate its 7-Eleven business, arguing that such a move would enhance the value of the sprawling retail empire, which also includes supermarkets and specialty stores selling items like stationery and baby products.
On Thursday, Seven & i announced that it had reached an agreement to sell some of these non-core retail businesses to a division of the private equity firm Bain Capital for approximately $5.5 billion.
Furthermore, the company stated that it plans to repurchase more than $13 billion worth of its shares by the fiscal year 2030 as part of efforts to boost shareholder value.
“We are now at a critical inflection point,” Mr. Dacus said at a news conference in Tokyo. He emphasized that through recent restructuring measures, Seven & i aims to transition from a “general retailer” into a “global convenience store champion,” with a focus on introducing high-quality Japanese food to international markets, including the United States.
The company’s options for resisting Couche-Tard’s acquisition have narrowed. Late last month, an attempt by Junro Ito, the son of Seven & i’s founder, to take the company private collapsed when he was unable to secure the necessary funding.
Mr. Ito’s proposal had garnered support from some senior figures within the company who viewed it as a means to ensure that 7-Eleven remained under Japanese ownership.
7 Eleven ChainProponents of the plan believed that a buyout led by the founding family would help preserve the company’s culture, which prioritizes values such as quality and customer experience over the Western corporate focus on shareholder returns and profit maximization.
Couche-Tard, however, has indicated that it would respect Seven & i’s operational methods and seek to learn from them.
When Mr. Dacus assumes his new role, he will face the challenge of persuading shareholders that Seven & i’s revised corporate structure—under his leadership and that of other current executives—can generate growth without necessitating a sale.
Historically, Seven & i’s leadership has been composed of Japanese executives who climbed the corporate ladder within the company. In contrast, Mr. Dacus has held senior positions at several major international retail brands.
Fluent in both Japanese and English, Mr. Dacus has extensive experience in Japan’s retail sector, having worked at the parent company of Uniqlo and previously serving as chief executive of Walmart Japan.
During Thursday’s news conference, he frequently referenced his time working night shifts at a 7-Eleven, where his father operated a franchise.
Under the leadership of current CEO Ryuichi Isaka, Seven & i has sought to increase its value by divesting underperforming businesses and concentrating on 7-Eleven stores both domestically and internationally.
In October, the company disclosed plans to spin off its supermarket division and other non-core businesses into a separate holding company. It also set an ambitious goal of nearly doubling its annual sales to approximately $200 billion by 2030.
However, in recent months, Seven & i’s convenience store operations have seen profits stagnate in Japan, while the situation has been even more challenging in overseas markets, particularly the United States.
Over the three months ending in November, operating income from Seven & i’s overseas convenience store segment declined by a third compared to the previous year.
Prior to Thursday’s announcements, Seven & i’s stock had fallen more than 6 percent earlier in the week following a Japanese media report suggesting that the company planned to reject Couche-Tard’s bid.
Seven & i refuted the report and clarified on Thursday that it remains in discussions with the Canadian firm and is still evaluating its proposal.
Mounting pressure from investors and sluggish growth have led Seven & i to increasingly view Mr. Dacus as a viable candidate for the top position in recent months. He had previously chaired the independent committee assessing Couche-Tard’s takeover bid but stated on Thursday that he would step down from that role.
