Perth advisory firm Azure Capital has been mandated to find a new owner for national convenience store chain 7-Eleven, which is chaired by Perth-based Michael Smith.
Perth advisory firm Azure Capital has been mandated to find a new owner for national convenience store chain 7-Eleven, which is chaired by Perth-based Michael Smith.
Owned by members of the Withers and Barlow families, 7-Eleven Holdings has 750 stores across Australia.
The business started in 1977 with a single store in Melbourne, after the owners bought one of the earliest global license agreements to take the 7-Eleven brand outside of the US.
Mr Smith, who has chaired 7-Eleven since 2015, said the sale process was expected to take a number of months.
He has worked closely with Azure over many years, including on the sale of telco iiNet (which he also chaired) to TPG Telecom in 2015.
Azure partners David Flynn and Olivia Boyne, who have had an ongoing advisory mandate with 7-Eleven and its owners, will lead the sale, along with legal advisers from Ashurst in Melbourne.
The business will be pitched to private equity investors, as competition concerns are likely to rule out trade buyers.
It is understood to have annual underlying earnings (EBITDA) in excess of $200 million.
Mr Smith said 7-Eleven has an “unrivalled brand and convenience footprint” in the fuel and convenience market in Australia.
“The business has great momentum and a compelling strategy for growth across convenient food, the continued transformation of our total merchandise offer, digital and format innovation, and new stores,” he said.
“With such a strong platform in place, the shareholders have decided that the time is right for new ownership of the business to oversee the next phase of our growth and development.”
Shareholder Russell Withers said 7-Eleven Holdings had grown to be Australia’s largest private fuel and convenience retailer.
It supports the employment of more than 9,000 people across the corporate and franchise network.
“The company has made significant progress in recent years on a number of fronts and is performing well under a highly credentialed management team, with an exciting outlook for growth,” Mr Withers said in a statement.
“As such, the Withers and Barlow families have decided that the time is right to review options for the future ownership of the business with a view to setting it up for future growth and success.”
