Seven & i Holdings, a major distributor, will begin full-scale negotiations to sell Sogo & Seibu, a department store under its umbrella, which continues to be sluggish.


It is expected that multiple investment funds will respond to the primary bid for the sale of the majority of the shares, and the company will carefully scrutinize the conditions and proceed with the selection of the seller.

Sogo & Seibu has 10 stores mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but in addition to the rise of online shopping, the movement to refrain from going out due to the spread of the new corona infection has increased, and the one-year settlement of accounts until February last year is 66. Sales continued to be sluggish, with an operating deficit of 100 million yen.



Under these circumstances, the parent company Seven & i Holdings is making adjustments to sell the majority of Sogo & Seibu's shares as part of concentrating management resources on the convenience store business, and is the first to narrow down the sales destinations. The bid will be closed on the 21st.



According to the people concerned, it seems that multiple foreign investment funds are willing to accept this bid, taking into account the ability to attract customers from major stores such as Ikebukuro and Shibuya and the value of real estate.



In response to this, Seven & i will start full-scale negotiations for sale, but future business directions including local stores that will affect the local economy, what to do with employee employment, etc. We will carefully scrutinize the conditions and proceed with the selection of sales destinations.