Bain Capital agreed to buy Japanese retail giant Seven & i‘s supermarket and specialty store businesses for 814.7 billion yen (around $5.5 billion)—making it the country’s third largest PE buyout in a decade.
Bain Capital is said to be planning to list the unit, York Holdings, in three years, Reuters reported.
York operates major supermarket chains in Japan, such as Ito-Yokado and York-Benimaru, as well as specialty retailers, including lifestyle goods producer Loft, baby products seller Akachan Honpo, and Seven & i Food Systems, which operates the restaurant chain Denny’s in the region.
The investment comes as PE buyout activity in Japan has been on the rise. Last year, the country saw $19.8 billion transacted across a record 154 PE buyouts, according to PitchBook data.
Buyout activity this year has continued to be strong, with $12.2 billion already deployed—not including Bain’s latest buyout—across 28 deals.
Bain has a long history of investment in Japan, and in 2024, it ranked as the most active foreign PE investor in the country over the past five years, completing more than 30 buyouts since 2019.
In just the last year, the Boston-headquartred firm has completed several major Japanese acquisitions, including the 69 billion yen buyout of logistics and IT company Trancom, a 140 billion yen purchase of mobile phone distributor T-Gaia and the 100 billion yen acquisition of used motorcycle dealer Red Baron Group.
As part of this latest deal, the firm will now own 60% of the company. Seven & i Holdings is reinvesting, retaining a 35.07% stake, while the founder’s family will hold 4.93%.
Seven & i said the sale is due to a refocus on its convenience store business, including 7-Eleven.
Bain Capital also has an extensive track record of investing in the retail and consumer goods sectors. Past investments include drugstore chains Kirindo and Dollarama, as well as specialty retailers MASH Holdings, Snow Peak and Canada Goose.
Featured image by Tupungato/Getty Images
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