Japan’s Seven & I Holdings has announced plans to open 500 new convenience stores in the US and Canada through 2027.
Seven & I’s founding Ito family made an offer, estimated to be worth $58bn, last month to take the company private amid a competing takeover offer from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard.
A company spokesman confirmed an earlier report by Kyodo about the plan for convenience stores in North America, adding that it was part of Seven & I’s strategy to grow to 100,000 stores in 30 countries and regions by 2030.
Seven & I has more than 15,000 stores in North America currently but said in October it would close 444 underperforming stores in the region. The Ito family aims to raise more than one trillion yen ($6.52bn) from a listing of Seven & I’d North America convenience store business, Bloomberg News reported this month.
