Seven & i pushes 7-Eleven Inc. IPO target to fiscal 2027
Mauricio Leyva, who became chief executive of 7-Eleven Inc.’s North American arm in August, plans to refuel growth in the U.S. and Canada by applying 7-Eleven Japan’s playbook. The overhaul includes modernizing stores, expanding private-label brands across North America, and scaling the 7NOW delivery platform.
“It’s something that I like to say we’re stealing with pride,” Leyva said in an interview Friday with The Wall Street Journal.
Leyva told the Journal that concepts popular in Japan can succeed with shoppers in the U.S. and Canada. “One of the things that we like most about Japan that I’ve personally experienced is this attention to detail and focus on quality — that is something that we need to enhance and do better in North America,” he said.
The CEO pointed to Japan’s store staples that have become iconic, such as 7-Eleven Japan’s egg-salad sandwich, and highlighted Japan’s extensive food variety and easy-to-open product packaging as qualities he wants to bring to North America.
Leyva most recently served as group president of Keurig Dr Pepper. He said he is focused on understanding customers better than competitors and on delivering experiences that bring shoppers back to 7-Eleven for everyday needs. He expressed confidence that the retail group’s “North Star” transformation strategy can succeed, even as inflation pressures consumers’ disposable income.
On Friday, Seven & i Holdings, the Japanese operator of 7-Eleven stores, also updated its plan to list 7-Eleven Inc. through an initial public offering. The company first announced the IPO in March of last year but has since pushed back the timeline due to unfavorable market conditions. It now expects a listing by fiscal 2027 at the earliest.
“The objective is not to do an IPO. The objective is to increase shareholder value,” Seven & i CEO Stephen Dacus said.
Dacus noted that the broader environment for retail public offerings remains challenging due to the artificial-intelligence boom. “A lot of the oxygen has been sucked out of that by AI. That’s where all the money’s going,” he said.
Management must deliver sustained performance improvement under the transformation plan to give investors total confidence before tapping capital markets, Dacus added.
The planned IPO also serves as a defensive measure against hostile buyout attempts, following a long-running $47 billion takeover campaign by Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard. The Canadian retail conglomerate ultimately withdrew its offer over friction around valuation gaps and antitrust issues in the U.S., prompting Seven & i to focus on restructuring and a standalone North American IPO strategy.
A listing could allow Seven & i to secure a higher valuation, closing the stock-price gap that made the company an attractive target for foreign takeovers.
In second-quarter earnings released Thursday, Seven & i reported strong profitability in its overseas convenience-store unit, with higher gasoline prices boosting performance in North America. Despite those results, Leyva expects a shift in U.S. consumer behavior as living costs rise.
“The transactions happening at the store level are actually keeping up in frequency but not necessarily in the amount and ticket of the basket,” he said. “Value and quality will continue being as important as it’s been now, but even in an accelerated way.”
The group has also faced pressure from activist investors demanding focus on its flagship convenience retail business. Seven & i has taken measures including divesting non-core assets such as superstore units as part of efforts to restore confidence.
On Friday, Dacus said the group could expand in-house production expertise to manage its supply chain more proactively. “I think to a certain extent we’ve outsourced too much. We’ve relied too much on everybody else to tell us what to do,” he said.