Sogo & Seibu will be sold to Fortress Investment Group by Seven & I Holdings

According to news published on Friday, Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd has decided to sell its Sogo & Seibu department store company to Fortress Investment Group of the United States.

Seven & I, the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores and the Speedway gas station chain in the United States, has been under pressure from ValueAct Capital to execute structural reforms and dispose of assets.

During an unusual meeting on Friday morning, the company's board of directors decided to sell Sogo & Seibu, and a spokesman said that details would be disclosed in the afternoon.

According to people familiar with the matter, the purchaser was a SoftBank Group Corp.-controlled fund. According to one of them, the transaction's price and other parameters are still being finalized.

This Monday, the Nikkei newspaper reported that Seven & I would sell its struggling department store division to Fortress for 200 billion yen (about $1.4 billion).

SoftBank did not respond quickly to a request for comment. Fortress did not immediately respond to a comment request after U.S. business hours.

According to the Nikkei, Yodobashi Holdings is expected to invest in the arrangement and establish outlets inside Sogo & Seibu locations.

Representatives of Yodobashi were not immediately reachable for comment.

Seven & I shares rose 0.6% in Tokyo trading, compared to the Nikkei index's 2.7% gain.