(Reuters) -Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard ( ANCTF ) said on Wednesday it was withdrawing its $47 billion takeover bid for Japan's Seven & i Holdings ( SVNDF ), citing a lack of "constructive" engagement.

The move comes nearly a year after Couche-Tard, which owns Circle K convenience stores, first offered to purchase the 7-Eleven operator.

The Canadian company had also agreed to a store sale plan, in a bid to ease some regulatory hurdles as a takeover would have created a global convenience store giant with about 20,000 locations.

"We have repeatedly sought a friendly dialogue with the Ito family but they have not been open to any conversation," Couche-Tard said in a letter to its board of directors.