Seven & i Asked to Cooperate with U.S. Probe into Couche-Tard Offer

Tokyo, Sept. 11 (Jiji Press)--Seven & i Holdings Co. has been asked by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to cooperate in its investigation into Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.'s proposal to acquire the Japanese retailer, Seven & i officials said Wednesday.

The Seven & i officials said they will refrain from commenting on the details.

The FTC is likely to be looking into the proposal for a possible antitrust law breach.

Seven & i is the largest convenience store operator in the United States, running 8.5 pct of stores as of 2023, followed by Couche-Tard's 3.8 pct. The two companies' combined market share exceeds 10 pct.

In late July, Couche-Tard proposed acquiring Seven & i in a deal worth about 6 trillion yen.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]