The Japanese parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain has retained prominent financial and legal advisers as it mulls a potential sale to Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. is serving as financial adviser to Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd.and Nishimura & Asahi, one of Japan’s largest law firms, is serving as legal adviser, according to a source familiar with the matter. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source because they are not authorized to discuss the appointments publicly.Laval, Que.
Couche-Tard is the first foreign company to attempt the acquisition of a Japanese business since Tokyo issued a new set of guidelines for mergers and acquisitions last year. Experts say the new guidelines are intended to make it easier for foreign buyers to get deals done in Japan and were issued in response to decades of criticism that Japanese corporate takeover rules were overly protectionist.
However, the new guidelines have never been tested by a major transaction and any transaction between Couche-Tard and Seven & i would be of historic proportions. If Couche-Tard ends up acquiring Seven & i, it would be the largest acquisition the company has made since it was founded in 1980.