TOKYO, March 6 (Reuters) - Bain Capital aims to list

Seven & i Holdings' ( SVNDF ) supermarket and retail business in

around three years after boosting synergies within the group, an

executive of the U.S. private equity firm said on Thursday.

Bain also plans to scale up the business, potentially

through acquisitions of rival retail chains as well as

technology companies to digitize operations, Bain partner

Naofumi Nishi said in an interview with Reuters.

"The food supermarket industry is still fragmented and prone

to economies of scale," Nishi said. "If the opportunity arises,

we would like to actively consider acquisitions of other

companies," he said.

Seven & i ( SVNDF ) agreed on Thursday to sell York Holdings, its

non-core businesses including its sprawling supermarket

operations, to Bain for 814.7 billion yen ($5.50 billion). Seven

& i ( SVNDF ) and its founder families will reinvest to take 40% of York.

The York business houses 29 units including the Ito-Yokado

chain, one of Japan's best-known grocery store businesses, as

well as baby goods store Akachan Honpo and the company that

operates Denny's restaurants in Japan.

Nishi said Bain was not considering management and business

reshuffles. The York business "has stores in premium locations

and has ample room for growth," he said.

Bain is stepping up investment in Japanese retail and

consumer goods sectors, including recent buyouts of outdoor

goods maker Snow Peak and Gelato Pique brand pajama maker Mash

Holdings.

Dealmaking has ramped up in Japan, as global funds such as

Bain, KKR and Blackstone are increasingly seeking

out Japanese investments viewed as having poor corporate

governance or underutilised assets that could be reformed to

increase shareholder value.

Bain competed with KKR and Japanese buyout firm Japan

Industrial Partners in the second round of bidding for the York

business.

($1 = 148.2600 yen)

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Tom Hogue and Emelia

Sithole-Matarise)