Seven & i to start sale of majority stake in supermarkets by year-end, Nikkei says

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Seven & i Holdings plans to seek buyers for a majority stake in its supermarket businesses, including its flagship Ito-Yokado, with the process to begin as early as the end of this year, Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

The retail chain wants to sell the businesses to overseas investment funds, among other possible buyers, the Nikkei reported without mentioning sources. It may disclose the plan at an earnings announcement on Oct. 10, the newspaper said.

A Seven & i spokesperson, responding to the Nikkei report, said: “It is not something officially announced by our company, and there are no facts that have been decided at this time.”

Earlier on Friday, Bloomberg news reported that Seven & I Holdings has approached private equity funds and other parties about a potential sale of Ito-Yokado and supermarkets, citing people familiar with the matter.

Based on earnings multiples, the sale value could reach 320 billion yen ($2.19 billion), Bloomberg said, citing one of the sources. That follows a report on Thursday that Seven & i was considering selling part of its Seven Bank unit.

Last month, the parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain rejected a $38.5 billion offer from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard that would have been the largest corporate foreign buyout of a Japanese company.

Seven & i has been under pressure from investor ValueAct Capital in recent years to improve its asset allocation and has sold down stakes in other lower-performing assets.

The company said in April it was considering a listing of its superstore business, which mainly comprises supermarkets, as part of a plan to maximise corporate value.

($1 = 146.4400 yen)