Japan's Seven & i names Stephen Dacus new CEO, announces restructuring

 

Seven & i Holdings, the Japanese operator of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, announced a change of CEO and plans to restructure its business in the face of a $47 billion foreign takeover bid. 

Lead outside director Stephen Dacus will succeed Ryuichi Isaka as chief executive, the company said, putting a foreign executive in charge of Seven & i for the first time. 

The company will hold a media briefing at 5 p.m. (0800 GMT) in Tokyo to talk about the plan. 

Seven & i has been the target of investor criticism over its capital allocation for years, and in August received a buyout offer from Circle-K operator Alimentation Couche-Tard that was ultimately raised to $47 billion, a 35 per cent premium to its current market capitalisation. 

 

In response, a group led by Seven & i's founding Ito family mounted its own buyout offer, while the company's management said they could chart an independent path to recovery. 

Dacus, who previously held executive roles with Walmart and Fast Retailing, has also led a special committee vetting the takeover bids. The Ito family group failed to secure a reported $58 billion in funding for their offer, scuttling the deal late last month.

 

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