Japan's 7-Eleven Owner to Buy Certain Sunoco Businesses for $3.3 Billion

Japanese retail-store operator Seven & i Holdings Co. said it would acquire more than 1,000 U.S. convenience stores and gas stations from Sunoco LP for $3.3 billion. Seven & i, which owns the 7-Eleven chain, said Thursday it would boost earnings through the acquisition of Sunoco stores in Texas and the eastern U.S. Sunoco said the sale of a majority of its convenience stores is the first step in its strategic shift to focus on its fuel-supply business. It said it expects to use the proceeds to repay debt and for other general purposes. The purchase of 1,108 Sunoco gas stations and convenience stores is a major step in Seven & i’s plan of its U.S. unit establishing 10,000 stores by 2019. As of the end of February, it had 8,707 stores in North America. Seven & i has identified the convenience-store business as a core growth area, shifting its focus away from traditional big-box, general-merchandise and department-store businesses. The company said it sees growth potential in the U.S., where the retail market is far more fragmented than in Japan. In Seven & i’s home market, the top three convenience-store operators now dominate after years of consolidation.

Source: www.wsj.com