An illustration of Two, 7-Eleven Slurpees

Two 7-Eleven Slurpees in front of a store (Tim Sloan/AFP via Getty Images)

Weird Money

The $58 billion Slurpee acquisition

Sure, 7-Eleven is more than gas and Slurpees, but it’s still an outrageous bid.

11/14/24 3:34PM

Most of the bigger mergers and acquisitions stories that have made headlines over the last few years have been tech related, such as Nvidia attempting to acquire Arm Holdings, Big Tech companies “acquihiring” AI startups’ teams, or Adobe attempting to acquire Figma.

Occasionally, however, we get news of a potential blockbuster deal in the least-tech-focused of industries, like grocery stores, or, as of Wednesday… gas stations. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Junro Ito, a member of the founding family of Japan’s Seven & i Holdings, the parent organization of 7-Eleven, had made an eye-watering $58 billion bid to take the company private. The reason? They’re trying to outbid Couche-Tard, the Canadian convenience-store operator and owner of Circle K.

Interestingly, this story comes the same day that the Financial Times reported that Seven & i and Couche-Tard had “begun negotiations” over a $47 billion takeover bid for the 7-Eleven store owner. The Financial Times piece also noted that any bid from Ito would likely require “unprecedented levels of borrowing” from Japan’s banks to finance the deal.

A few things here:

First, $58 billion would be, by far, the largest management buyout in history if the deal closed. For context, Hilton Worldwide, one of the world’s largest hotel chains, is worth $62 billion. The largest management buyout on record was in 2006, when the founder of US hospital chain HCA worked with KKR and Bain Capital to acquire the company for $32.9 billion. The largest leveraged buyout of any kind was the $45 billion acquisition of Texas-based energy company TXU by KKR, TPG, and Goldman Sachs in 2007, and it ended in bankruptcy when the company failed to make interest payments during the recession. Even the lower bid from Couche-Tard would break records.

Second: $58 billion?! For 7-Eleven? I had no idea this company was that big, but Seven & i owns more than 85,000 stores across several brands, including 7-Eleven, Speedway, Japanese supermarket Ito-Yokado, Japanese ATM and online banking solution Seven Bank, Japan’s Denny’s franchises, and more. In total, the conglomerate generated $73.5 billion in 2023 revenue, adjusted for current exchange rates. Meanwhile, Couche-Tard, which owns Circle K, operates ~16,800 stores around the world, and its 2023 revenue was in line with its Japanese counterpart at $71.9 billion. So, to be fair, 7-Eleven is more than just a gas station.

My question, however, is whether or not the “white knight” bid from Junro Ito is real, or if the founding family is seeing just how high Couche-Tard is willing to go.

Alain Bouchard, Couche-Tard’s founder and executive chairman, has been gunning for 7-Eleven for decades. Bouchard first tried to acquire the company’s US business in 2005, but Seven & i declined. Nineteen years later, they could make history, creating a conglomerate with more than 100,000 stores worldwide (pending any regulator-mandated divestitures), and this move would give Couche-Tard a large footprint in Asia, where it only has 1% market share right now.

The question, however, is finding the right price.

There’s a scene in the final season of HBO’s “Succession” where Logan Roy is in a bidding war with his kids to acquire a competing media company. After he discovers that they beat him out by offering $10 billion, he calls them to say one of the best lines in TV history: “Congrats on saying the biggest number, you f---ing morons.”

I wouldn’t be totally surprised if there’s a similar game of chicken happening with these convenience-store chains right now. In August, Couche-Tard made an initial $38 billion offer for Seven & i, sending the latter’s stock price up 23% in response to the news. A month later, Seven & i rejected the offer, and Couche-Tard countered with a new $47 billion bid. While the Ito family could be willing to pay a $10 billion premium over Couche-Tard’s latest offer to retain control, they might also be willing to see if they can get the Canadian conglomerate to “say the biggest number” and pay a $20 billion premium over its initial bid.

Tom Jones6/24/26

Prime Day is here again and Amazon’s subscription service has never been more popular

Well, it’s that time of year again: many have made their wish lists, people are scraping together the money they’ve saved to pick out a perfect gift, some are presumably leaving out refreshments for the weary delivery drivers and, more and more, drones.

It’s Amazon Prime Day — meaning that it’s the second day of the four-day promotional event that Amazon still calls Prime Day — of course, and it’s even come early this year, with the company bringing the period into late June from July, when it’s been traditionally held for the last five years.

The Prime Age

Alongside the eyes and endless clicks that the arbitrary stream of listicles on “The Best Prime Day Deals” that almost every media outlet pours into, Amazon will also be cheering the fact that there’s now more Prime users than ever before to devour the retailer and its sellers’ sometimes-contested “discounts.” Indeed, according to the latest annual estimates from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), there were just over 200 million American shoppers using Amazon’s massive subscription service at the end of 2025.

Max Knoblauch6/15/26

Electronic Arts launches a platform to put more ads in its games

Video game publishing giant EA launched a new platform on Monday designed to make the process of selling immersive ad space in its popular games easier.

The company says the platform, called EA Advertising, allows brands to “integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content.”

More so than other studios, EA has incorporated advertising into its most popular titles. As Kotaku points out, the company’s ad efforts stretch as far back as 2006. Several of its sports franchises already feature partnerships with brands like Visa, Lowe’s, Red Bull, and PepsiCo.

In-game advertising hasn’t exactly been embraced by fans, but industry experts expect it to ramp up as companies seek more revenue to offset higher games budgets and surging memory costs. EA rival Take-Two has taken a different approach, with CEO Strauss Zelnick recently saying the company was “not at risk of doing brand partnerships” in the forthcoming “Grand Theft Auto VI,” and that ads in full-price games seems “unfair.”

The $55 billion deal to take EA private, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is set to close at the end of this month. Being the largest leveraged buyout in history, EA will likely look for more ways to boost revenue to cover interest payments.

Electronic Arts Makes Push for Ad Dollars Tied to Sports

Millie Giles6/11/26

JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, the company sold $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”