TOKYO -- Ito Yokado Corp., a major Japanese retailer, announced Wednesday it had completed the purchase of a 70 percent equity stake in Dallas-based Southland Corp., owner of the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain.
The Japanese company described the cash purchase, worth $430 million, as a friendly rescue of a failing American company.
The purchase, first announced in March 1990, was approved in February by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court overseeing Southland's reorganization, said Ito Yokado spokesman Yasuo Takaha.
The Japanese company has not decided whether it will undertake any major changes in 7-Eleven's management but is 'exploring the best way to make use of 7-Eleven's established strengths,' said Takaha.
The purchase by Ito Yokado follows a string of Japanese buyouts of major American companies.
Ito Yokado said the 7-Eleven buyout is different from other Japanese purchases in that it is based on a long working relationship with Southland and represents and effort to preserve the tradition of 7- Eleven, the world's largest chain of convenience stores and a fixture in many parts of the United States.
Ito Yokado operates Seven-Eleven Japan. Seven-Eleven Japan stock surged in trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday.