ValueAct Seeks Talks With Seven & i Holdings After Shareholder Meeting
TOKYO — ValueAct Capital is hoping to take an active role in the future of Seven & i Holdings despite losing its battle to replace several directors on the company's board with its own slate of nominees.
The activist investor — which owns 4.4 percent of 7-Eleven Inc.'s parent company and has been pushing for potential a spinoff of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain and a general shift in strategy for around two years — stated in a May 31 letter to shareholders that it looks forward to "private and constructive dialogue" with Seven & i, reported Reuters.
During their annual meeting on May 25, shareholders voted down ValueAct's slate of nominees in favor of re-electing Seven & i President and CEO Ryuichi Isaka and other Seven & i-backed candidates to the company's board of directors.
However, the number of votes that went to ValueAct's nominees indicates that there is still a clear desire for change within the company, ValueAct claimed. Support for ValueAct's candidates ranged from 25.52 percent to 34.13 percent of shareholder votes.
[Read more: Second Proxy Advisor Backs ValueAct Capital's Nominees for Seven & i Board]
ValueAct also noted that Seven & i stock has underperformed since the annual meeting, indicating investor disappointment with the status quo. "Now, all shareholders — including ValueAct — are in a position to hold the entire board of directors accountable," the investor wrote in the letter.
The day after the letter was sent, a Seven & i spokesperson repeated the company's statement from May 25 that it will continue to listen to all its shareholders.
Seven & i Holdings is the parent company of Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven Inc., which operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 13,000 stores in the United States and Canada. In addition to 7-Eleven stores, the company operates and franchises Speedway, Stripes, Laredo Taco Co., and Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits locations.