03:46 PM EDT, 08/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. ( ANCTF ) is seeking backing from some of Canada's largest pension funds to support its proposed acquisition of 7-Eleven owner Seven & i Holdings Co., people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg News is reporting.

The retailer is reaching out to funds including Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to gauge their interest in providing equity, the people said. It's seeking to raise several billion dollars from such co-investors, according to the people.

Couche-Tard is considering a range of funding options, from debt financing to issuing stock, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Discussions with the Canadian pension funds are ongoing and no final agreements have been reached.

Representatives for Couche-Tard, CDPQ, CPPIB and OTPP declined to comment.

The companies disclosed last week that Couche-Tard had made a preliminary non-binding proposal to buy Seven & i, which operates more than 85,000 stores across the globe. Any deal to acquire the retailer, which has a market value of about $38 billion, would be the biggest-ever foreign takeover of a Japanese company. Couche-Tard, which operates about 16,700 stores, is worth about $56 billion.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally, and/or from other media sources. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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