Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard

Tokyo (AFP) - 7-Eleven’s owner is set to replace its CEO as the Japanese convenience store giant battles a $47-billion takeover bid by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT), reports said Monday.

Last week Seven & i said its founding family failed to put together a buyout to fend off ACT’s offer, which would be the largest foreign acquisition of a Japanese firm.

Japan’s Nikkei business daily and other media reported that Seven & i’s president Ryuichi Isaka would be replaced by outside director Stephen Hayes Dacus.

Dacus, who has also worked for Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing and the Japanese arm of US retail giant Walmart, would also be Seven & i’s first foreign CEO.

A formal decision will be made at a board meeting, the reports said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Dacus currently heads a special committee tasked with evaluating ACT’s bid, which the Canadian firm has already sweetened.

Dacus and the committee are expected over the next few weeks to unveil strategic proposals to increase the company’s value ahead of an annual shareholder meeting in May, the Financial Times reported.

“There have been reports in some news media regarding the management of Seven & i,” the company said in a statement.

“However this information was not announced by the Company and no decision has been made by the Company at this time,” it said.

Seven & i shares soared as much as 12 percent on Thursday on news that the company’s founding Ito family had failed to put together financing for its alternative offer.

On Monday they rose as much as 4.6 percent and closed up 2.37 percent.

With around 85,000 outlets, 7-Eleven is the world’s biggest convenience store brand.

The franchise began in the United States, but it has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.

ACT, which began with one store in Quebec in 1980, now runs nearly 17,000 convenience store outlets worldwide including the Circle K chain.

ACT said on Friday that it still hoped to achieve a “friendly agreement”.

In September, when Seven & i rejected the initial takeover offer from ACT, the company said it had “grossly” undervalued its business and could face regulatory hurdles.