Apollo Global weighs $9.5 bln stake in Seven and goes private – Bloomberg Via Investing.com

Investing.com– Apollo Global Management (NYSE: ) is considering taking a major stake in Seven & i’s Ito family’s bid to take the Japanese retailer private, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The US private equity firm is considering investing as much as 1.5 billion yen ($9.5 billion) for a stake in the company after it goes private, a Bloomberg report said.

Apollo may join the Ito family and Itochu Corp as key investors in the Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO:). The Ito family is considering a commitment of about 500 billion yen and Itochu of more than 1 trillion yen, Bloomberg reported.

The current private offering sees equity stakes up to 4 billion yen, with the rest coming from banks.

Seven & i, which owns the popular 7-Eleven store, has been the target of increasing takeover interest in recent months, after Canada e. Alimentation Couche Tard Inc (TSX: ) is seeking about 7.5 billion yen for the firm. Although Seven & Ie rejected the proposal, it was followed by reports that the Ito family, which founded the firm, was considering taking the company private by buying a consortium.

Seven & I’s market capitalization stood at about 6.3 billion yen on Friday. Its shares rose more than 5% despite a 24% year-over-year decline in its third-quarter earnings.