Canada’s Couche-Tard confirms buyout offer for Japan’s Seven & i

(Reuters) – Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard confirmed on Monday it has made an offer to buy Japan’s Seven & i.

The 7-Eleven owner had said earlier on Monday it had received a preliminary takeover offer from Couche-Tard and has formed a special committee to review the proposal.

Shares of Seven & i closed up about 23% in Tokyo, valuing the retailer at around 5.6 trillion yen ($38 billion).

As of Friday’s close, Couche-Tard, which operates Circle-K convenience stores, was valued at C$79.65 billion ($58.25 billion).

($1 = 1.3673 Canadian dollars)

($1 = 146.0500 yen)

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)