Japan's Seven & I Drops Plan To Buy Speedway LLC

Above, a Speedway sign in Gallup, New Mexico. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This is certainly news to me. I wasn't even aware that a Japanese company was even considering purchasing Speedway LLC, a convenience store and gasoline station chain.

There are many Speedway gas stations in New Mexico and the refinery in Jamestown, New Mexico (just down the hill from me and behind the Flying J) is owned by Speedway's parent company, Marathon Petroleum Corp.

According to the Japan Times:

Seven & I Holdings Co. has dropped its plan to acquire U.S. convenience store chain Speedway LLC, informed sources said. 

The price for the acquisition, said to be around ¥2.5 trillion, was too high, a Seven & I official said Thursday. 

The decision will apparently force Seven & I to review its overseas operations, which have been an engine of growth. 

Speedway, a unit of U.S. refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp., was supposed to play an important role in strengthening Seven & I’s North American business, an analyst said. 

But ¥2.5 trillion price tag is equivalent to nearly half of the chain’s annual sales in Japan.
The deal would “weaken Seven & I’s finances,” another analyst said.

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