Quebec-based Couche-Tard pulls out of bid for 7-Eleven parent company

Alimentation Couche-Tard has backed away from a bid to buy the parent company of Japanese convenience store giant 7-Eleven.

Couche-Tard says it withdrew its proposal to buy Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd., which it accused of failing to sincerely and constructively engage with its offer.

Couche-Tard says it repeatedly sought a friendly dialogue with Seven & i's founding family but alleges it was not open to any conversation and management hasn't been willing to address basic questions about industry dynamics in the country.

Couche-Tard, the Quebec-based firm which owns Circle K and Ingo, first made a friendly offer for Seven & i last August. It improved the bid that fall before issuing a non-binding proposal earlier this year.

Seven & i initially rebuffed the takeover, saying it would be too hard to nab regulatory approvals because some would see the deal as reducing competition across several markets.

But after Seven & i's founding family failed to secure financing for what could have been a competing bid, Couche-Tard and the Japanese firm entered more serious discussions earlier this year about a potential path forward.