7-Eleven, the icon of US late-night convenience stores, is set to become a subsidiary of its Japanese offspring in a billion-dollar deal announced on Tuesday as part of restructuring by ailing Japanese retailer Ito-Yokado.
7-Eleven, which started as an ice-selling shop in Texas in 1927 and went on to pioneer quick and easy sales to consumers on the go, would become 73.8 percent owned by 7-Eleven Japan.
7-Eleven opened its first store in Japan in 1974 and has since become the largest convenience-store chain in a country where all-night shops selling ready-to-eat meals and basics dot the urban landscape.
7-Eleven Japan, which has 10,650 stores, already has a 36.2 percent stock ownership in the US 7-Eleven.
Ito-Yokado controls 7-Eleven Japan but said it would sell its 37.6 percent stake in US 7-Eleven to 7-Eleven Japan as part of a restructuring plan.
The sale is worth ?120 billion (US$1.14 billion), Ito-Yokado said.
The Ito-Yokado group entered 7-Eleven in 1991, a year after the US store chain declared bankruptcy because of debts it ran up in a failed attempt at diversification. Ito-Yokado helped rehabilitate the US chain, and 7-Eleven re-listed on the New York Stock Exchange five years ago.
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