S/ Stephen Dacus, Director, Seven & i Holdings / We have lost some momentum. We must humbly accept the fact that we have lost part of our market share. To get back on track, we must accelerate the pace of our investments.

Seven & i Holdings announced on March 6 that Stephen Dacus, its lead independent outside director, will replace Isaka Ryuichi as president in late May.

At a press conference, Dacus said he is not sure if Canadian convenience store chain operator Alimentation Couche-Tard's takeover bid would increase Seven & i's corporate value.

While the Japanese retail giant will continue talks with Couche-Tard, Dacus said Seven & i will also keep exploring other opportunities.

The holding firm unveiled plans to list its North American convenience store subsidiary by the latter half of 2026.

It also intends to sell shares of York Holdings, which operates the Ito-Yokado supermarket chain, to a US investment fund for about 800 billion yen.

Seven & i said it plans to use funds gained from such activities to purchase its own shares worth 2 trillion yen by fiscal 2030.