Seven & i will start selling a majority stake in supermarkets by the end of the year, Nikkei By Reuters says

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Seven & i Holdings plans to seek buyers for a majority stake in its supermarket business, including flagship Ito-Yokado, with the process expected to start as early as the end of this year, the business daily reported on Friday.

The retail chain wants to sell the businesses to overseas investment funds, among other possible buyers, Nikkei reported without citing the sources. It may reveal the plan in an earnings announcement on Oct. 10, the newspaper said.

A spokesperson for Seven & i, responding to the Nikkei report, said: “It is not something officially announced by our company and there are no facts that have been decided at this time.”

Earlier on Friday, Bloomberg News reported that Seven & I Holdings had approached private equity funds and other parties about a potential sale of Ito-Yokado and the supermarkets, citing people familiar with the matter.

Based on earnings multiples, the sale could be worth 320 billion yen ($2.19 billion), Bloomberg said, citing one of the sources. This follows a report on Thursday that Seven & i was considering selling part of the Seven Bank unit.

Last month, the parent company of convenience store chain 7-Eleven rejected a $38.5 billion bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, which would have been the largest foreign takeover of a Japanese company.

Seven & has been under pressure from investor ValueAct Capital in recent years to improve its asset allocation and has sold stakes in other underperforming assets.

The company said in April it was considering listing its superstore business, which mainly comprises supermarkets, as part of a plan to maximize corporate value.

(1 USD = 146.4400 yen)