Apollo Global weighs $9.5 bln stake in Seven & i privatization bid- Bloomberg

Investing.com– Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) is considering taking a major stake in a bid by Seven & i’s founding Ito family to take the Japanese convenience store chain private, Bloomberg reported on Friday. 

The U.S. private equity giant is considering investing as much as 1.5 trillion yen ($9.5 billion) for a stake in the firm after it goes private, the Bloomberg report said. 

Apollo could join the Ito family and Itochu Corp as key investors in Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO:3382). The Ito family is considering a commitment of about 500 billion yen and Itochu of over 1 trillion yen, Bloomberg reported. 

The current privatization proposal sees equity stakes amounting to as much as 4 trillion yen, with the rest of the financing coming from banks.

Seven & i, which owns the popular 7-Eleven convenience store chain, has become the target of increased takeover interest in recent months, after Canada’s Alimentation Couche Tard Inc (TSX:ATD) bid about 7.5 trillion yen for the firm. While Seven & i rejected the offer, it was followed by reports that the firm’s founding Ito family was also considering taking the firm private in a consortium buyout.

Seven & i’s market capitalization stood at around 6.3 trillion yen on Friday. Its shares jumped over 5% even as it clocked a 24% year-on-year drop in its third-quarter earnings.