7-Eleven to Split U.S. Stores and Buy Back Shares to Prevent Takeover

The Japan-based owner of the worldwide 7-Eleven chain said Thursday it would split its North American convenience stores into a separate listed company, saying U.S. stores would be better off with more independence.

The split is part of a package of shareholder-friendly measures designed to head off a $47 billion takeover bid by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard ATD 0.95%increase; green up pointing triangle, owner of the Circle K convenience-store chain. The 7-Eleven parent also named its first American chief executive, former Walmart executive Stephen Hayes Dacus.