7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto Retires Amid Broader Revamp
Broad Restructuring Includes Partial Sale of U.S. Unit and Changes at Top
[Stay on top of transportation news: .]
U.S. convenience store chain 7-Eleven said its CEO will retire at the end of this month, as Japanese parent Seven & i Holdings Co. seeks a turnaround of the business.
Joe DePinto, 63, who was CEO for two decades and orchestrated its expansion through the acquisition of Speedway and Sunoco gasoline stations, will be replaced on an interim basis by President Stan Reynolds and Chief Operating Officer Doug Rosencrans of the U.S. unit, the company said in a statement late Dec. 19.
Seven & i, which brought 7-Eleven to Japan, refined the convenience store concept and eventually took over the entire franchise, is going through a broad restructuring that includes a partial sale of the U.S. unit and changes at the top. The revamp was spurred on, in part, by Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s 6.77 trillion-yen ($43 billion) takeover proposal that it abandoned earlier this year.
DePinto’s compensation was 7.7 billion yen and 4.35 billion yen in the past two fiscal years, which made him the top-paid executive at the company.
ٱʾԳٴ
Stephen Dacus, who took over as CEO of Tokyo-based Seven & i six months ago, said the company is pushing ahead with “transformational leadership, capital and business initiatives to enhance our performance.”
“We strive to find, through a thorough selection process, the right person who can lead 7-Eleven Inc. and help us work even more closely together as one group,” Dacus said in the statement, referring to the U.S. unit by its corporate name.
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing above or go here for more info
Over the past decade, 7-Eleven’s North American footprint expanded through the $3.1 billion acquisition of Sunoco LP gasoline stations in 2018 and the $21 billion purchase of Speedway outlets from Marathon Petroleum Corp. in 2021.
Dacus has said that the retailer is at a “turning point” and he plans add more than 2,000 new stores to fuel growth. At the same time, the business faces headwinds from inflation biting into consumer spending in Japan and the U.S. and rising costs.
In October, Seven & idowngradedits operating profit forecast for the fiscal year that ends in February, to 404 billion yeb on revenue of 10.6 trillion yen. The stock is down 11% this year, while the benchmark Topix Index has climbed 21%.
