7-Eleven’s profit tanks, putting more pressure on it to consider buyout offers
That’s inconvenient… 7-Eleven’s parent company is struggling to sling Slurpees: Seven & i Holdings said its quarterly net profit plummeted 89% from last year. Sales in Japan, where the company’s based and its shops — or konbinis — are beloved, fared better than its overseas biz. Seven & i maintained its profit forecast for the fiscal year after nearly halving it in October. At that time, Seven & i said it’d shut down 444 underperforming North American stores, citing weak fuel and cigarette sales. 7-Eleven’s plunging profit may pump up the pressure to consider outside help.
Taquit-no… Seven & i rejected a $39B buyout offer from the Canadian owner of Circle K, Couche-Tard, in September. After Seven & i said the offer “grossly undervalued” its biz, Couche-Tard came back with a $47B bid. But this week, Japan’s economy minister said the acquisition of Seven & i by a non-Japanese company is a national-security matter, citing how convenience stores help distribute food during natural disasters. That could make a rival offer from the company’s billionaire heir, Junro Ito, more appealing. The Ito family owns 9% of Seven & i, and in November it started trying to pull together $58B to take the company private.
Reheating takes a while… 7-Eleven has a turnaround plan that features upping its food game with the fresher options the chain’s known for in Japan (like Japanese-style egg sandos and miso ramen). As Sherwood dug into, food’s become a bigger piece of convenience-store sales as customers skimp on gas and cigs. A few chains winning the food game: Wawa and Buc-ee’s.