TOKYO — As much as Jun Nagao doesn’t like the idea of foreigners scooping up Japanese companies, the former 7-Eleven franchise owner thinks a takeover would bring welcome change to the retail giant where he spent decades. Nagao, who until last year owned a 7-Eleven convenience store in Gunma, north of Tokyo, says years of strategic missteps left parent Seven & i Holdings 3382.T ripe for a $38.
5 billion bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard ATD.TO last month. He is not alone in his criticism.
Reuters also spoke to nine current 7-Eleven franchisees in Japan, almost all of whom voiced disapproval of Seven & i’s strategy and welcomed the proposed buyout by Circle-K owner Couche-Tard. While Seven & i has rejected the bid, Couche-Tard has said it remains interested. The deal would be the biggest-ever foreign acquisition of a Japanese company and would boost the Canadian retailer’s economies of scale.
The franchisees were almost unanimous in some of their complaints, including about the high-profile failure of a cashless payment system, 7pay. Many voiced concern about competition from rivals and said they struggled with rising costs as Japan exits deflation for the first time in decades. “As a Japanese, I don’t think having companies bought out by foreign firms is good in principle,” said Nagao, who battled with headquarters for years until he agreed to part ways with the company.
He was among a group of owners who lost a 2013 court fight to shorten mandatory 24.
