Marunouchi Sells Sijo Ishii to lawson for JPY 55 Billion

Marunouchi Capital has announced that it will sell all Seijo Ishii shares to Lawson. The deal will be executed on October 31st. Media reported the sale price was about JPY 55 billion including debts.

According to Nikkei, "Seijo Ishii owns about 110 stores in and around the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. Touting a unique merchandise selection of imported products, high-end prepared meals and other items, the company boasts the leading earnings growth in recent years among supermarket operators. It logged both revenue and profit growth for five consecutive years through 2013. This year, it is on track to ring up a 10% sales gain to 60 billion yen, with operating profit jumping 36% to around 4.5 billion yen."

Lawson is the second largest convenience store operator in Japan after Seven Eleven. The sale process of Seijo Ishii began last May and other suitors included retail giants Aeon and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings.

Marunouchi Capital bought Seijo Ishii in February 2011 from Rex Holdings, which was then owned by an Advantage Partners' fund, for a reported sum of JPY 40 billion.