TOKYO, April 6 (Reuters) – Seven & i’s (3382.T) impartial administrators stated on Thursday the Japanese retail large’s board would proceed to overview strategic options because it faces strain for broader reforms from some shareholders together with activist ValueAct Capital.
ValueAct, which owns a 4.4% stake in Seven & i and has been pushing for change since 2020, is looking for a spin-off of its 7-Eleven comfort retailer chain and seeks to interchange 4 of the 14 board members at an upcoming annual assembly.
“The board will proceed to overview optimum group construction and strategic options,” together with a doable preliminary public providing or a spin-off, the eight administrators stated in an announcement.
A supply has stated Seven & i president Ryuichi Isaka is likely one of the board members ValueAct desires to interchange.
“The board is presently discussing the shareholder proposals and new board composition, and we plan to announce our choices in mid April,” Isaka advised reporters and analysts on Thursday.
Final month, Seven & i introduced the outcomes of a strategic overview and stated it could shut a further 14 Ito-Yokado grocery store shops in Japan and totally exit its attire enterprise. Some buyers, although, stated the overview didn’t go far sufficient.
The corporate stated on Thursday it could reshuffle its monetary providers.
Seven & i stated in a separate assertion that its working revenue rose 30.7% to a file 506.5 billion yen ($3.85 billion) within the monetary yr to end-February. For the monetary yr that started on March 1, it forecast a 1.3% revenue enhance.
($1 = 131.4700 yen)
Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Enhancing by Shri Navaratnam and Alexander Smith
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