The parent company of the popular 7-Eleven convenience store chain announced Thursday it will delay plans to publicly list its North American business operations until at least the fiscal year beginning in April 2027.
Seven & i Holdings, based in Tokyo, had originally planned to move forward with the stock listing during the latter half of 2026. A company representative cited unpredictable market conditions and challenges in forecasting consumer spending patterns as reasons for the postponement.
The Japanese retail giant confirmed it remains committed to its massive share repurchase program, planning to buy back approximately 2 trillion yen (equivalent to $12.59 billion) in company stock through fiscal year 2030. The company has already completed 600 billion yen of this buyback initiative in the financial year that concluded in March 2025.
Stock prices for Seven & i dropped 4.6% on Thursday following initial reports of the listing delay published by the Nikkei business publication just before market closing.
This development follows last year’s dramatic takeover attempt when Canadian retail company Alimentation Couche-Tard made an unsolicited $46 billion offer to acquire Seven & i Holdings. The proposed deal, which would have represented Japan’s largest foreign acquisition in history, ultimately collapsed when Couche-Tard withdrew its bid, stating that Seven & i had declined to participate in meaningful negotiations.
