Lawson Drops Bid For am/pm Japan

Lawson Inc., the 2nd largest convenience store chain operator said it has abandoned its 14.5 billion yen ($145 million) plan to acquire smaller rival chain am/pm Japan Co. Lawson Inc. announced in March that it had agreed with REX Holdings Inc. to acquire all shares of its subsidiary, am/pm Japan Co., Ltd.

But the deal fell apart because Lawson did not accept the condition by the US owner of the am/pm brand am/pm international, that 700 stores in the group continue to use the am/pm name after the acquisition. The $145 million deal would have helped Lawson catch up with the industry leader Seven-Eleven, a unit of Seven & I Holdings.