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The Yomiuri Shimbun Stephen Hayes Dacus, the incoming president of Seven & i Holdings Co., speaks during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Wednesday in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
By Tomohiko Kanai and Tomoko Echizenya / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
23:00 JST, March 13, 2025
Stephen Hayes Dacus, the incoming president and CEO of Seven & i Holdings Co. and current chairman of the board of directors, expressed his sense of caution regarding an acquisition proposal by Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., in a recent exclusive interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.
Dacus said the company would be forced to undergo a review by the U.S. antitrust authorities, which could take more than two years and is his primary concern. If they are unable to implement growth strategies during that time, he warned that it would damage their corporate value and shareholders’ interests. “I don’t think it would be in our shareholders’ interests for us to sign an agreement [with Couche-Tard and] stop everything,” he said.
Seven & i is the leading convenience store chain in the United States, with approximately 13,000 stores, followed by Couche-Tard, which has about 6,000. If Couche-Tard were to acquire Seven & i, it would violate U.S. antitrust laws, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission could require them to sell about 2,000 stores.
Dacus cited the example of a merger plan between two major supermarket chains in the United States. The plan failed to obtain approval from the FTC and was rejected in court last year.
“It was a friendly merger. Both sides wanted it, [but the process] took 2½ years. It had very negative consequences for their shareholders,” he said. In the case of Seven & i and Couche-Tard, he said the FTC is “a very, very high hurdle” and that their review would probably take even longer.
In the retail industry, where demand changes rapidly, “we need to continue to evolve faster and faster and faster. I truly believe that retail is about speed,” and if the company spends time dealing with the FTC, it will not be in the interest of their stakeholders, he said.
“[The FTC] is the biggest [hurdle]. If you don’t clear that, there’s no certainty,” Dacus said.
Meanwhile, Couche-Tard executives held a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday where they criticized Seven & i. They said they are disappointed that the discussions with Seven & i have been limited to regulatory issues and not led to broad consultation.
Regarding his strategy after assuming the presidency, Dacus said, “First understand what your customer needs and move fast to satisfy those needs.” He then indicated that he would accelerate the development of new products and services and introduce fresh foods of the same quality as those in Japan to stores in the United States.
Dacus, 64, will succeed President Ryuichi Isaka, 67, on May 27. He will be the first foreign president of the company. At a press conference on March 6, he made it clear that he would not accept Couche-Tard’s proposal as it stood and would seek independent management.
