Photo/Illutration Alain Bouchard, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. founder and executive chairman of the board, during an interview outside Montreal on Nov. 21 (Takao Shinkai)

MONTREAL—The Canadian suitor of Seven & i Holdings Co., parent of convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan Co., has ruled out the possibility of a hostile takeover.

“We don’t want to be hostile. That’s not our plan,” Alain Bouchard, founder and executive chairman of the board at Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., told The Asahi Shimbun and other media organizations here on Nov. 21. “We want to be friendly.”

The company operates convenience stores under the Couche-Tard and Circle K brands in North America.

Still, Bouchard said the company will continue its “friendly” bid to acquire Seven & i.

“This industry needs a big champion, and we want to be the champion with Seven-Eleven,” he said.

Couche-Tard proposed to purchase the company for about 6 trillion yen ($39 billion) in August.

After Seven & i rejected its proposal, saying the offer “grossly undervalues” the company, the Canadian retailer sweetened the pot by about 1 trillion yen in September.

In response, Seven & i is considering taking the company private through a management buyout.

The focus is whether Couche-Tard will further raise its purchase price to counter the move.

Alex Miller, company president and chief executive officer, who met reporters with Bouchard, would not provide a clear-cut response.

He emphasized that the current offer is “the most compelling one.”

Seven & i controls the supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co. along with other companies under its umbrella.

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