TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The founding family of Japan's

Seven & i ( SVNDF ) is asking Thailand's Charoen Pokphand (CP)

Group to invest in a management buyout of the Japanese retailing

giant, national broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday.

The founding family is in talks to take Seven & i ( SVNDF ) private

through a management buyout to fend off a $47 billion takeover

from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard ( ANCTF ).

CP is the latest candidate approached by the family to

support its takeover effort, which values the sprawling

convenience store conglomerate at an estimated $58 billion and

would be the largest management buyout in Japanese history

should it go ahead.

The proposed CP investment would be in the order of hundreds

of billions of yen and negotiations to determine the figure are

ongoing, NHK said.

Seven & i ( SVNDF ) declined to comment on the report.

CP Group subsidiary CP All Pcl said in a

statement on Friday in response to the report that the company

follows investment policies focused on supporting business

growth.

"In considering any investment proposals, the company will

proceed in a prudent manner to maximize benefits for the company

and its shareholders and stakeholders," it said in the statement

filed to the Thai stock exchange.

TISCO Securities' analyst Attaphol Tisayukata said in a

research note on Friday that CP All is unlikely to take on the

investment, citing factors including limited synergy benefits.

Shares of CP All ended Friday nearly 8% lower,

underperforming the domestic stock index's 1.6% fall.

The Thai retail and food group, which operates 12,000

7-Eleven stores in Thailand, follows Japanese trading house

Itochu ( ITOCF ) and U.S. asset manager Apollo Global Management

as potential partners the family has reportedly sounded out as

sources of funding.

The move would keep Seven & i's ( SVNDF ) current management in place

and relieve pressure to offload unprofitable assets, although

some analysts have said it may be intended to induce a higher

bid from Couche-Tard.

Seven & i ( SVNDF ) has been under pressure from shareholders in

recent years to divest its varied non-core assets, which span

supermarkets, speciality stores and restaurant franchises.

In October it announced the establishment of a holding

company set to house 31 of its subsidiaries and sources have

told Reuters that U.S. private equity powerhouses KKR

and Bain Capital each bid more than $5 billion for the spin out.