Dive Brief:
- Alimentation Couche-Tard and Seven & i Holdings have begun signing non-disclosure agreements with potential buyers of their overlapping c-stores in the U.S., Couche-Tard President and CEO Alex Miller said during the company’s fiscal third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
- Couche-Tard, parent of Circle K, and Seven & i, which owns 7-Eleven, said last week that they’ve begun identifying potential buyers for at least 2,000 overlapping c-stores in North America to appease antitrust concerns in pursuit of their merger.
- Miller reiterated on Wednesday that, despite "significant frustration and distraction,” the Canadian retailer intends to be “friendly and persistent” in its pursuit of Seven & i and the 7-Eleven banner.
Dive Insight:
Miller’s comments on the NDAs run contrary to what a Seven & i spokesperson reportedly told several news outlets Wednesday, including Reuters, Bloomberg and the Japan Times: that the two retailers signed NDAs with each other regarding divestment discussions.
When an analyst asked about these reports during Couche-Tard’s earnings call, Miller emphasized that the retailers are signing NDAs with the potential U.S. buyers and not with each other.
“We have not signed a non-disclosure agreement with Seven & i,” Miller said multiple times during the call.
A spokesperson from Seven & i did not respond by press time when asked to clarify its statement about these NDAs.
Miller did not expand on the “marketing program” that he said Couche-Tard and Seven & i have begun for the thousands of stores they’re looking to sell. Instead, he said Couche-Tard is focused on highlighting the proposed merger’s benefits to both companies’ shareholders and stakeholders, as well as introducing Couche-Tard to Japan.
“Understanding and exposing Couche-Tard to the Japanese public — who we are, what we stand for, how we take care of communities and take care of people — that's where our focus is,” Miller said.
The plan to divest thousands of overlapping c-stores, mostly in the U.S., aims to remove an “unacceptable burden of risk” Seven & i may face should the merger not materialize, Seven & i said last week. Neither company specified exactly where these thousands of stores are located, nor who the potential third-party buyers could be.
