US antitrust regulators are likely to challenge any proposal by Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard to combine with the Japanese operator of 7-Eleven, two people briefed on the matter said, over concerns a deal would increase prices for consumers and damage the labour market.
A tie-up between Couche-Tard, which operates the Circle K brand, and Japan’s Seven & i, which controls the world’s biggest convenience store chain, would create one of America’s largest retail chains.
The deal, which would be the biggest takeover of a Japanese company ever attempted by a foreign buyer, was also likely to draw scrutiny in Tokyo under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, said two M&A lawyers in Japan.