Seven & i Holdings has decided to sell its department store Sogo/Seibu, which continues to struggle, to an investment fund in the United States.
The holding company of electronics retailer Yodobashi Camera plans to acquire some of the stores from the investment fund.
According to people involved, distribution major Seven & i Holdings held an extraordinary board meeting on the 11th, and as part of concentrating management resources on its main convenience store business, all of the major department stores "Sogo / Seibu" under its umbrella. We decided to sell our shares to the American investment fund "Fortress Investment Group".
For the investment fund, Yodobashi Holdings, the holding company of Yodobashi Camera, a consumer electronics mass retailer, contributed most of the acquisition funds of over 200 billion yen to acquire some stores such as the flagship store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. , the policy is to develop home appliance mass retailers.
Sogo & Seibu currently operates 10 stores, mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but has been in the red for three consecutive years due to the rise of online shopping and the impact of the corona crisis.
A corner store in the department store industry, which was once said to be the leader of retail, will be acquired by a consumer electronics mass retailer from a different industry, further changing the composition of the department store industry, which has undergone industry reorganization.