Couche-Tard will seek to affirm interest in acquiring Seven & i: report (TSX:ATD:CA)

Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD:CA) plans to tell Seven & i Holdings that it’s still interested in pursuing an acquisition after the convenience-store operator rejected its initial bid, Bloomberg News reported Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Couche-Tard, the Canadian operator of Circle K convenience stores, plans to write to Seven & I, the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven stores, in the coming days to repeat its interest in a deal. The plan may be a sign that Couche-Tard is willing to raise its offer price, Bloomberg reported.

Couche-Tard would prefer a friendly takeover agreement, but it hasn’t excluded the possibility of presenting its offer directly to Seven & i shareholders.

Representatives for Couche-Tard and Seven & i didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment.

Couche-Tard’s initial proposal valued Seven & i at about $14.86 a share. Seven & i rejected the offer as too low and for the risk of being blocked by antitrust authorities, but indicated it was open to consider a better offer.

A takeover would create a global convenience-store giant with more than 100,000 stores. It also would be the biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese company.