The well-known convenience store chain giant - its parent company & recently suspended trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company stated that it had received a non-binding acquisition proposal from the founder's Ito family. This move is considered by the industry as -'s "acquisition defense battle," aimed at preventing - from being acquired by the Canadian convenience store giant - (hereinafter referred to as "").

The company & released a statement confirming that it had received a non-binding preliminary proposal to acquire all of its outstanding shares. However, & subsequently rejected the offer, considering the acquisition bid to "significantly undervalue" the company. Public information shows that in the month of this year, a party intensified its acquisition efforts on & and made an offer, with a price of $X.XX per share and a total value of X.X trillion yen (approximately $X billion). Subsequently, & did not make any public statements.

Currently, the company operates over 10,000 convenience stores globally. "After being rejected, it seems they are not giving up. From the perspective of &, if they are truly unwilling to sell, then other potential buyers need to step in to balance the situation. As for this non-binding acquisition proposal, market rumors suggest that the renowned Itochu Corporation may also potentially join as a partner. This would be equivalent to the Ito family, the parent company of FamilyMart, joining forces with Itochu Corporation to counter the acquisition." A close source revealed.

As of now, the details of the parent company's & ultimate capital transactions remain uncertain. If there is a change in the company's shareholders, will it affect the business in the Chinese market? First Financial Daily reporters have learned that the Japanese side has established a wholly-owned subsidiary in China, which engages in brand licensing in the Chinese market. In terms of specific store opening models, there are two main approaches: direct investment in opening stores and regional authorization for opening stores.

In multiple stores in the Chinese market, over % are opened under a provincial regional authorization model, which is established on the contractual relationship of regional authorization, not on equity control relationships. Therefore, regardless of any changes in the equity of the Japanese parent company &, these contractual relationships of regional authorization will not change. This is because the regional authorization contracts are at least years long, and the authorized parties are Chinese enterprises with certain strength within the province. Therefore, changes in the equity of & are unlikely to have a significant impact on the stores in the Chinese market. A close source told the First Financial Daily reporter.

Nevertheless, the competition pressure faced by - in the Chinese retail market is not insignificant. In addition to territorial expansion, the construction of the supply chain for private label products in convenience stores requires significant investment. Moreover, major convenience stores are currently rolling out experiential convenience services, low-price promotions, and even certain coffee consumption scenarios, such as FamilyMart's湃客咖啡, to increase customer stickiness. The competition among major convenience store brands is fierce.

An industry insider revealed to the First Financial Daily reporter that for a convenience store to break even, the daily sales per store need to be at least between Yuan and Yuan. Whether this figure can be achieved depends on various factors such as the store's location, average customer spend, and customer traffic. For some stores, reaching this figure is still somewhat challenging. According to data from the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, in the 2021 China Convenience Store Ranking, - ranked seventh with a total of 1,000 stores. The top six were Meiyijia, Yijie, Kunlun Goodluck, Tianfu, Lawson, and Furongxingsheng, with the top three having more than 10,000 stores each.