Shares in 7-Eleven jumped more than four percent after a report said its CEO to be replaced

Shares in the Japanese owner of convenience store giant 7-Eleven jumped more than four percent on Monday after a report said its CEO would be replaced.

Last week, Seven & i said its founding family had failed to put together a white-knight buyout to fend off a takeover bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT), reports BSS.

Japan’s Nikkei business daily reported Monday that Seven & i’s president Ryuichi Isaka would be replaced by outside director Stephen Hayes Dacus — who is set to become the retailer’s first foreign CEO.

Dacus has held senior positions in various major retail businesses, from Walmart to Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing.

A formal decision will be made at a board meeting, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter. Jiji Press also reported that Isaka would step down.

“This was not an official announcement from our company. There is no such fact,” a Seven & i spokesman said.

Seven & i shares rose as much as 4.6 percent before paring gains to trade up just 0.1 percent mid-morning.

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.

Last year Seven & i rejected an offer worth nearly $40 billion from ACT — which would have been the biggest ever foreign buyout of a Japanese company.

Even as ACT reportedly sweetened its bid, Seven & i said in November it was studying a counter-offer from its founding Ito family reportedly worth around eight trillion yen ($53 billion).

The family were reportedly negotiating financing from top Japanese banks as well as companies such as Itochu Corp, which owns the FamilyMart chain.

But Seven & i said Thursday it had been told it would be “difficult to procure the necessary funds” for such a buyout.

ACT then said “we look forward to working constructively with Seven & i to reach 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.