Seven & i Holdings has secured Y300bn ($1.91bn) from SoftBank, PayPay and Sumitomo Mitsui Card via a third-party allotment of treasury shares, as the Japanese retail group deepens a wider strategic alliance around digital payments, loyalty and AI-led store operations.
Under the deal announced on 31 July, each investor will subscribe Y100bn for 48.30 million common shares in Seven & i.
The capital collaboration supports broader business partnerships between Seven & i and Seven-Eleven Japan on one side; and SoftBank, PayPay, LY Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Card on the other.
Seven & i said the partnerships are intended to combine 7-Eleven’s network of more than 20,000 stores in Japan with the partners’ digital platforms, customer bases and technology capabilities.
The group said this should help it build a more connected customer experience across physical stores and digital services while improving store productivity and creating new revenue opportunities.
Seven & i Holdings representative director, president and CEO Steve Dacus said: “This partnership is an important step in further accelerating our group’s growth strategy to become customers’ first choice for convenience.
“By combining Japan’s largest physical store network and everyday customer touchpoints with our partners’ digital platforms and expertise in AI, DX and data utilisation, we will create new customer experiences where physical and digital work together seamlessly.”
Near-term plans include linking Seven & i’s 7iD membership platform with PayPay accounts and allowing customers to earn and redeem PayPay Points and V Points at 7-Eleven stores.
The companies also plan joint campaigns targeting users of SoftBank telecom services, PayPay, LINE, Yahoo! Japan and Sumitomo Mitsui Card.
Longer term, the partners will explore using shared customer data to personalise offers, expand retail media and data marketing, and apply SoftBank’s AI, robotics and digital transformation tools to store operations and supply chains.
SoftBank president and CEO Junichi Miyakawa said the partnership would combine 7-Eleven’s store network with SoftBank’s “advanced technologies and expertise in AI, robotics and digital marketing” to develop next-generation retail services.
Separately, Seven & i ended discussions last month regarding a potential investment in Polish convenience retailer Żabka.
