Seven & i considering launching management buyout, Nikkei and Bloomberg say

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Seven & i Holdings is considering launching a management buyout that would see the retailer go private, the newspaper and Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, a deal that could be worth up to 9 trillion yen ($58.2 billion).

Seven & i faces a takeover bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard and has been under pressure to boost corporate value.

Going private would therefore allow the company to continue under its current management and remove the pressure from shareholders to sell off more of its assets – as well as eliminate the threat of a Canadian takeover.

Seven & i has already started sounding about banks for funding the buyout, the Nikkei said. Seven & i’s founding Ito family and trading house Itochu could also take part in the acquisition, Bloomberg News said separately.

The deal could be worth around 9 trillion yen, Bloomberg said.

A Seven & i spokesperson said the information was not anything released by the company.

($1 = 154.7300 yen)