Seven & i Holdings shares fall 3% on possible U.S. investigation into potential M&A deal with Couche-Tard – NBC New York

• Shares of Seven & i Holdings fell on reports that the FTC may investigate a possible deal with Alimentation Couche-Tard.
• U.S. antitrust regulators have asked Seven & i, the owner of 7-Eleven, to preserve all relevant documents for review after Couche-Tard’s $38.5 billion bid for the Japanese retailer was revealed in August, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Shares of Seven & i Holdings fell on Wednesday after news emerged that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission had informed the Japanese retail giant of a potential investigation into a possible deal with Canadian company Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Seven & i shares fell 2.98% in Asian trading. Couche-tard shares closed 1.39% lower on Tuesday.

U.S. antitrust regulators have asked Seven & i, the owner of 7-Eleven, to preserve all relevant documents for review, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Couche-Tard made a $38.5 billion bid for the Japanese retailer last month.

The FTC was concerned that defense lawyers for the companies were advising them to get rid of documents related to the potential merger before antitrust investigations began, Reuters reported. There has been no official notice of the investigation yet.

In June, the FTC and Justice Department opened antitrust investigations into Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia. Other recent antitrust investigations include cases against Amazon and Google.

Last week, the owner of a 7-Eleven store rejected an all-cash takeover offer from a Canadian convenience store operator, saying the offer was “not in the best interests” of its shareholders and stakeholders and citing U.S. antitrust concerns.

Seven & i revealed that Couche-Tard has offered to acquire all of Seven & i’s shares for $14.86 per share. If the deal goes through, it could be the largest-ever foreign takeover of a Japanese company.

“From a conventional perspective, I don’t think getting national security approvals in Japan is a big hurdle, but there are some voices in the market that talk about the importance of Seven & i, even as a safeguard against natural disasters,” said Tokutaka Ito, a partner at A&O Shearman, a law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions.

“If such voices are strengthened, the government may adopt a more conservative approach,” Ito told CNBC on Wednesday.

Neither Seven & i nor Couche-Tard immediately responded to requests for comment.

—CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.