The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven convenience stores revealed on Monday that Laval-based Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operates multinationally, has made an offer to purchase controlling interest in the much larger 7-Eleven chain.
7-Eleven operates more than 84,000 stores in 19 countries, while Couche-Tard has more than 16,500 stores and gas stations in 31 countries under several brand names and banners.
Seven & I Holdings, which wholly owns 7-Eleven as one of several subsidiaries, said it received a preliminary proposal from Alimentation Couche-Tard to acquire all of its outstanding 7-Eleven shares.
Couche-Tard was founded in 1980 in Laval by current board chair Alain Bouchard with a single convenience store at a time when the “dépanneur” concept was just getting off the ground.
The company has grown since then in leaps and bounds.
Notably, Couche-Tard acquired the Mac’s Milk convenience store chain in Ontario and other provinces in 1999, followed by the acquisition in 2003 of the Circle K chain, which currently ranks second in the U.S. after 7-Eleven for number of stores.
