MONTREAL, July 17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) said Wednesday it has withdrawn its $47-billion offer for the owner of 7-Eleven, ending a months-long saga to acquire the Japanese giant.

ACT made an offer last year of nearly $40 billion to create the world's biggest convenience store chain and then sweetened the bid to $47 billion after the Japanese firm rebuffed the approach.

The two companies signed a non-disclosure agreement in April in a bid to advance talks.

But ACT released a letter sent to the board of Seven & i which accused it of "a calculated campaign of obfuscation and delay".

"Based on this persistent lack of good faith engagement, we are withdrawing our proposal," the letter said.

To fend off the ACT buyout, Seven & i has taken measures including a huge share buyback, an IPO of its US unit and appointing its first foreign CEO.

ACT's letter said that "since entering into the NDA, there has been no sincere or constructive engagement from 7&i that would facilitate the advancement of any proposal."

It said that ran "contrary to comments made publicly by 7&i representatives, including in the July 11, 2025 earnings call."

Seven & i operates some 85,000 convenience stores worldwide.

Around a quarter of those outlets are in Japan, where they sell everything from concert tickets to pet food and fresh rice balls, although sales have been flagging.

ACT, which began with one store in Quebec in 1980, runs nearly 17,000 convenience store outlets worldwide, including Circle K.

Seven & i's shares fell more than nine percent in Tokyo on Thursday.

"ACT's decision is not what our company had hoped for, and we regard ACT's news release as containing a number of wrong statements on which we disagree," the Japanese firm said.

"Our company has been pursuing all options including ACT's proposal and our company's own policy of creating value ... Our company will continue policies to create value on our own including our convenience store business in North America," it said.

ACT chief executive Alex Miller has described the bid as aimed at creating a "global champion of convenience stores."

Seven & i said in September after ACT's initial approach that its rival had "grossly" undervalued its business and warned the deal could face regulatory hurdles in the United States.

7-Eleven began in the United States but has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.