The Canadian convenience store giant is interested in buying 7-Eleven operator Seven&i

(Bloomberg) - Seven & i Holdings Inc., operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores, received a takeover proposal from Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard in what could be the largest-ever foreign acquisition by a Japanese company.

Seven & i, which is owned by the descendants of Masatoshi Ito, the late founder of 7-Eleven Japan, disclosed on Monday that it had received a non-binding acquisition proposal from Alimentation Couche-Tard. Couche-Tard, the parent company of Circle K, confirmed that it had made the "friendly" offer.

If Couche-Tard were to acquire 100 per cent of Seven & i Holdings, the deal would cost at least 5 trillion yen (S $44.7 billion) and would be the largest foreign takeover of a Japanese company in history, Nikkei Asia reported.

According to a 2016 interview with The Globe and Mail, Couche-Tard co-founder Alain Bouchard made a takeover offer to ITO in 2005, but ITO felt the two companies had to strengthen their position in the U.S. market before considering a merger. So the offer was dropped.