Seven & i Holdings’ shares slide on likely U.S. probe into a potential M&A deal with Couche-Tard

Shares of Seven & i Holdings fell on Wednesday following a report that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has informed the Japanese retail giant about a potential investigation into a possible deal with Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Shares of Seven & i fell 2.89% during Asia trading hours. Couche-tard‘s shares closed 1.39% lower on Tuesday. 

U.S. antitrust authorities have asked Seven & i, which owns 7-Eleven, to retain all relevant documents for a review, Reuters reported citing sources familiar with the matter. Couche-Tard last month made a $38.5 billion bid for the Japanese retail company.

The FTC was concerned that the companies’ defense attorneys were advising them to get rid of documents linked to the potential merger ahead of antitrust investigations, Reuters reported. There is no official notifications of a probe yet.

In June, the FTC and the Justice Department launched antitrust investigations into Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia. Other recent antitrust investigations include cases against Amazon and Google.

Last week, the owner of 7-Eleven rejected a cash takeover bid from the Canadian convenience store operator, claiming that the offer was “not in the best interest” of its shareholders and stakeholders, and cited U.S. antitrust concerns.

Seven & i revealed that Couche-Tard had offered to acquire all outstanding shares of Seven & i for $14.86 per share. Should the deal go through, it could mark the biggest-ever foreign takeover of a Japanese company.

“From a conventional perspective, I do not see the approvals from a national security perspective in Japan would be a big impediment, but there are voices in the market that speak about Seven & i’s importance, even as a safeguard during natural disasters,” said Tokutaka Ito, partner at A&O Shearman, a law firm specializing in M&A.

“If such voices are enlarged, then the government may take a more conservative approach,” Ito told CNBC on Wednesday. 

Neither Seven & i nor Couche-Tard immediately responded to requests for comments.

—CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.