Seven & i Delays North American IPO

Japanese company Seven & i Holdings, parent company of 7-Eleven, this week said its possible Initial Public Offering (IPO) of its North American c-store business has been delayed, and that it will instead list the business in the fiscal year starting next March at the earliest. It previously planned for an IPO by the end of 2026.

Seven & i announced a series of measures in March 2025 to attempt to raise its shareholder value as it looked to fight off Alimentation Couche-Tard’s $47 billion takeover attempt, which Couche-Tard withdrew in July.

“The IPO of the North American business was a key step. It also sold a group of superstores and other businesses for $5.4 billion. The company is using proceeds from both to fund a $13 billion share buyback, for which its plans are unchanged, it said. The 7-Eleven owner has been taking steps to boost earnings, such as improving its offerings of proprietary and freshly made food items,” wrote The Wall Street Journal.

CEO Stephen Dacus said consumers are under economic pressure due to higher energy prices and drivers may travel less if prices at the pump stay elevated for a long time.

Seven & i also said its net profit for the three months ending in February fell 14% from a year earlier to 94.30 billion yen, equivalent to $594.7 million. Fourth-quarter revenue dropped 18% to 2.379 trillion yen.

Operating profit from the company’s overseas convenience-store business rose 17% to 69.23 billion yen year over year, while its domestic convenience-store business operating profit declined 13% to 43.99 billion yen compared to the prior year.

In other recent IPO news, in March, Yesway Inc. took steps to go public—the company filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the proposed IPO of its Class A common stock.

Yesway has applied to list its Class A common stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "YSWY."

The company stated that the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size, price or terms of the offering, Yesway said.