Seven & I plans to open 500 stores in US, Canada

Japan’s Seven & I Holdings said on Wednesday it plans to open 500 new convenience stores in the United States and Canada through 2027.

Seven & I’s founding Ito family made an offer, estimated to be worth $58 billion, last month to take the company private amid a competing takeover offer from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard.

A company spokesman confirmed an earlier report by Kyodo about the plan for convenience stores in North America, adding that it was part of Seven & I’s strategy to grow to 100,000 stores in 30 countries and regions by 2030.

Seven & I has more than 15,000 stores in North America currently but said in October it would close 444 underperforming stores in the region.

The Ito family aims to raise more than 1 trillion yen ($6.52 billion) from a listing of Seven & I’d North America convenience store business, Bloomberg News reported this month.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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