The operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores and other retail chains in Japan said that it has received a buyout offer from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Seven & i Holdings on Monday said that a special committee that made up of outside directors has been formed to review the bid, but released no other details.
Shares of Seven & i jumped 23% in Tokyo, the largest single day jump for the stock in the company’s history.
The company has been trying to streamline operations and last year sold the department store chain Sogo & Seibu Co. to a U.S. investment fund.
Seven & isaid that its board, as well as the special committee, have not made any decision yet as to accepting or rejecting the offer, to enter into talks with Alimentation Couche-Tard or to pursue alternative options.
The company will make it’s decision public, it said Monday.
Couche-Tard runs a number of convenience store chains under brand names like Couche-Tard, Circle K, and On the Run. It has more than 14,000 stores across Canada, Ireland, Mexico Russia, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the United States.
