DECEMBERASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK9Japanese retailer Seven and I Holdings has acquired Australia's convenience store chain 7-Eleven, two sources said on Nov. 29. A source said the deal was worth A$1.71 billion (US$1.14 billion). The source cannot be disclosed because the information has not been made public. The convenience store and gas station began selling all of its businesses earlier this year. 7-Eleven stores in Australia are owned by the Withers and Barlow families.In 1976, they signed a regional licensing agreement to bring the 7-Eleven brand to Australia and opened their first store in Oakley, Victoria, in 1977. 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American supermarket chain based in Irving, Texas. Established by Seven and i Holdings of Japan through Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd. The chain was founded in 1927 as an Ice House store in Dallas. From 1928 to 1946, it was called the Tote'm Store.Japan has more 7-Eleven stores than anywhere else in the world, named after its holding company, Seven and I Holdings. Of the company's 71,000 stores worldwide, 21,215 (about 30 percent of its global stores) are in Japan, with 2,824 in Tokyo alone. On September 1, 2005, a new holding company, Seven and I Holdings Co., Ltd., became the parent company of 7-Eleven, Ito-Yokado, and Denny's Japan.As of July 2019, 7-Eleven has stores in 47 prefectures in Japan and has opened 14 new stores in Okinawa Prefecture. Japanese robot maker Yaskawa Electric plans to invest $200 million in the United States to build its first robots there, its president said. The investment follows other manufacturers in a move to build manufacturing capacity in the US. While Japanese rival Fanuc is a major manufacturer of factory robots for the US auto industry, Yaskawa hopes to ride the wave of automation in other areas. By building locally, we provide stability and loyalty to our customers. President Masahiro Ogawa said in an interview.The company, which is more than 100 years old, has previously said it plans to invest more in the United States. The potential scope of the expansion is reported here for the first time. Yaskawa is the world's leading manufacturer of servo motors, a type of precision motor used in chip manufacturing equipment.The company, which makes parts in Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio, plans to expand U.S. operations with parts that include cars, Ogawa said. In the United States, securing cutting-edge semiconductors is a priority, led by major chip companies such as Applied Materials and Lam Research.Foreign manufacturers that are increasing production capacity in the United States include Toyota Motors and chip makers TSMC and Samsung Electronics. Yaskawa, whose shares have risen for the past three years and has a market capitalization of about $10 billion, is looking for cash to finance some of its deferred costs, Ogawa said. SEVEN & I HOLDINGS TO BUY AUSTRALIA'S 7-ELEVEN RETAIL STORESYASKAWA ELECTRIC TO INVEST $200 MILLION IN USANEWSROOM
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