Food Pout-Tard announces the withdrawal of its Seven & I acquisition offer, citing a lack of collaboration from the Japanese company. Couche-Tard explained the reasons for this decision in an extremely critical letter addressed to the board of directors of Seven & I.
In this letter, the Canadian Company recalls its offer of 2,600 yen per share, a bonus of 47.6 % on the course of action before the offer. She deplores the lack of a favorable response from Seven & I and the ITO family there despite numerous attempts to start a constructive dialogue, the company said in a statement published after the closing of the markets on Wednesday.
A Couche-Tard also criticizes the lack of transparency and cooperation during the diligent verification process.
According to her, only limited information has been provided, and management meetings in Dallas and Tokyo proved to be unproductive, with restrictions on discussions and answers to questions.
Regarding regulatory approvals in the United States, Couche-Tard claims to have proposed concrete solutions, including stores. The Canadian criticizes Seven & I for not facilitating the process of identifying potential buyers for the assets to yield.
Partial purchase considered
“We are ready to offer an important bonus on the course of action before the proposal to the shareholders of 7 & I,” writes Couche-Tard in his letter signed by Alain Bouchard and Alex Miller.
Couche-Tard also explored alternative transaction structures, such as the acquisition of all the activities of Seven & I outside Japan and 40 % of Japanese activities.
This proposal would have offered an equivalent value to shareholders while allowing them to participate in international activities grouped, maintains Mr. Bouchard.
For its part, if the missive must be believed, Seven and I would have offered to acquire part of the actions of Layer-Tard. “During our meeting on July 1ᵉʳ in Tokyo, you proposed a spare solution that you would be ready to reach Sei in Couche-Tard in return for participation in the capital of Couche-Tard. »Couche-tard rejected the proposal. “In our opinion, such a structure would compromise the operational perspectives of the company from the grouping. »»
