Seven & i board chair Stephen Dacus wrote that the Quebec company’s US$14.86-per-share acquisition offer was “opportunistically timed” in a letter to Alimentation Couche-Tard founder Alain Bouchard. The cash bid lacks detail, Dacus wrote, on how much and how soon the Quebec convenience store would be willing to divest to comply with U.S. competition law. (The Logic)

Talking point: Seven & i, the Japan-based parent company of 7-Eleven, saw shares fall about 1.4 per cent in Tokyo on Friday to about US$14.99, while Couche-Tard’s stock rose about two per cent in Toronto. Despite the Seven & i board’s unanimous vote to reject, Dacus wrote that the company is open to “sincerely consider any proposal” in stakeholders’ best interest. That could include one from Couche-Tard, he wrote, that better recognizes 7-Eleven’s value and the role the company plays in Japanese society. Seven & i’s board is actively pursuing “a number” of strategies to unlock shareholder value, the letter added. Couche-Tard executives said Thursday they were “confident” they could reach a deal with Seven & i, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.