Japanese Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa has addressed the potential acquisition of retail conglomerate Seven & i by a foreign entity, indicating that such a transaction would be closely linked to the nation’s security concerns, Reuters has reported. 

The statement of 8 January 2024 is the first acknowledgement from a high-ranking Japanese official of the security implications of the proposed $47bn takeover bid from Canada-based Alimentation Couche-Tard. 

In August 2024, Couche-Tard offered to purchase Seven & i Holdings for $14.86 per share, later raising the bid to $18.19 per share (a total of Y7trn/$47.2bn) after the initial bid was rejected. 

Seven & i Holdings, headquartered in Tokyo, was classified as “core” to Japan’s national security in September following clarification from a senior official at Japan’s Ministry of Finance that companies cannot invoke national security concerns as a justification to prevent foreign acquisitions. 

During a recent briefing at the Japan National Press Club, Ryosei Akazawa was quoted by the news agency: “Speaking about a potential acquisition of Seven & i, I think the matter is heavily related to (national) security. 

“If Seven & i’s convenience store business is in foreign hands and run solely for profits, we’ll have to think about [issues] such as whether we can get full support when our people affected by the disaster are suffering.”

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These comments suggest that any transaction could now face heightened governmental oversight. 

American private equity firm KKR recently considered selling its stake in another Japanese supermarket chain, Seiyu.