Seven & i rises on reported talks for Zabka stake

Seven & i Holdings shares rose more than 4% in early Tokyo trading on Friday after Nikkei reported that the Japanese retailer was nearing an agreement to acquire a stake in Zabka Group, Poland’s largest convenience-store operator. The reported transaction would be valued at several hundred billion yen, according to Nikkei, and would extend Seven & i’s push to build its convenience-store network outside Japan.

The Tokyo-listed shares were up 4.19%, or 84 yen, in Friday trading, according to market data cited by CNBC. In Warsaw, Zabka’s shares closed 10.9% higher on Thursday at a record, after the report drew attention to a possible investment by the parent company of 7-Eleven.

Nikkei reported that the prospective deal would support Seven & i’s entry into the Eastern European convenience market. Neither Seven & i Holdings nor Zabka Group immediately responded to CNBC requests for comment.

European expansion route

Zabka was founded in 1998 and operates more than 10,000 franchised stores in Poland, according to Nikkei. Its outlets sell groceries and hot snacks, placing the company in the same high-frequency retail category as 7-Eleven, where store density, logistics and brand recognition are central to scale.

A stake purchase, if completed, would give Seven & i a direct financial interest in an established European operator rather than requiring it to build a store base from the ground up. Nikkei reported that Seven & i expects an investment in Zabka to strengthen its retail network in Europe.

Seven & i has set a goal of increasing its global store count, including Japan, from 87,000 to 100,000 by 2030, according to Nikkei. The company’s convenience-store business is already international through 7-Eleven, but the reported Zabka transaction would add exposure to a large franchise network in Poland, a market where the Japanese group has not been described as having a comparable operating base.

First major deal since Speedway

If finalized, the investment would be Seven & i’s first large overseas convenience-store deal in five years, Nikkei reported. The previous major transaction was its $21 billion acquisition of Speedway, the U.S. convenience-store chain, in 2021.

That deal expanded Seven & i’s footprint in the United States, one of its key international markets. The reported talks with Zabka point to a different regional focus, with Eastern Europe becoming a potential next step in the company’s overseas expansion strategy.

The terms of the Zabka discussions have not been publicly confirmed by either company. Nikkei reported the talks as nearing a deal, while the value was described only as several hundred billion yen. No stake size, governance terms or closing timetable was disclosed in the report.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.