Friday, August 21, 2020
RHYS JEYDON MIGUEL Vows to WOW in “THE FOUR BAD BOYS AND ME” Digital Love-cast from Star Cinema
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
ALA BOXING Promotions SHUTS DOWN after 35 YEARS of Champion Fighters and Global Cooperation
MICROSOFT Announces Timeline for ENDING SUPPORT on INTERNET EXPLORER Browser
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
GOOGLE Projects SUPPORT for CHROME APPS on Browser Ending 2021-22
Runaway QC OSTRICH that DIED of STRESS Reportedly EATEN Rather than BURIED
DISNEY Rebrands Acquired 20th CENTURY FOX TELEVISION Studio to “20th TELEVISION,” Among Other Name Changes
Monday, August 10, 2020
SON YE-JIN of “CRASH LANDING WITH YOU” Originally Hoped to Shoot SMART Commercial in PHILIPPINES
“INUYASHA” Spinoff SEQUEL “YASHAHIME” Gets TRAILER Ahead of OCTOBER Premiere
“DIRTY DANCING” SEQUEL Coming from LIONSGATE; Star JENNIFER GREY Reprising
Sunday, August 9, 2020
TOSHIBA QUITS Laptop Business; Fully SELLS DYNABOOK Division to SHARP
“LOST WORLD” Callback in Set Photo from “JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION”
CLARK GREGG Gives FAREWELL Message to “AGENTS OF SHIELD” Fans as ABC Series ENDS on Wednesday
Thursday, August 6, 2020
HIROSHIMA Observes 75th ANNIVERSARY of ATOMIC BOMBING Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
VAL KILMER Talks Movie Acting After TRACHEOTOMY for THROAT CANCER
FACE-SHIELDS Must be WORN with FACEMASKS on PUBLIC TRANSPORT Effective AUGUST 15
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
NIA DACOSTA is NEW DIRECTOR for MCU’s “CAPTAIN MARVEL 2”
Embattled TIKTOK App Gets Competition from NEW INSTAGRAM FEATURE: REELS
DISNEY’s “PINOCCHIO” REMAKE has TOM HANKS in Negotiation for GEPPETTO Role
“MIDNIGHT SUN”: STEPEHENIE MEYER’s “TWILIGHT” Alternate POV Novel Finally RELEASED
BEIRUT, LEBANON Rocked by MASSIVE EXPLOSION of Stored AMMONIUM NITRATE
SAVED BY THE BELL Sitcom REVIVAL on PEACOCK Has a Bit More EDGE but STILL FUN
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
SAM NEILL Promises Greater Involvement of “JURASSIC PARK” Stars in “JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION” with TWEET
UK ROYAL Social Media Greet MEGHAN on BIRTHDAY, Considering “MEGXIT”
“MULAN” to Premiere SEPTEMBER 4 on DISNEY+ with FEE; Still Coming to CINEMAS in Available Territories
FIBA Tasks INDONESIA to STEP UP in QUALIFIERS as CO-HOST of 2023 BASKETBALL WORLD CUP
GOOGLE Officially Reveals PIXEL 4A…and 4A 5G, and PIXEL 5
NETFLIX Looking to Get International STREAMING RIGHTS for AMY ADAMS Film “THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW”
Monday, August 3, 2020
BANKRUPT Second XFL Football League BOUGHT Up by DWAYNE JOHNSON
HORROR Film Stars from “TEXAS CHAINSAW,” “THE CONJURING,” and Things to Do During COVID PANDEMIC
7-ELEVEN’s JAPANESE Owner Acquires SPEEDWAY Gas Station Chain from US MARATHON PETROLEUM for $21 BILLION
Sometimes it can be amazing for consumers to realize that a particular chain of stores they know originated from one country is actually owned by a company in another. Case in point, the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, which began in the US way back in 1927-28 (under a different name until the current one adopted in 1946), is presently owned by the diversified international retail group Seven & I Holdings from Japan. While most of its other subsidiaries catered to Japanese, 7-Eleven is the one they had with a strong US and global presence, until Seven & I Holdings announced a surprise acquisition of another American chain, of gas stations.
CNN reports that Seven & I Holdings, the Japanese parent firm of 7-Eleven, is buying the Speedway gas station chain, a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum. The deal was revealed by the two companies in an official statement released just this Sunday, August 2. According to Seven & I Holdings, this is their biggest acquisition yet in company history, and certainly the biggest subsidiary buyout to be done during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the acquisition was paid for in cash, with Seven & I Holdings giving Marathon $21 billion for Speedway.
This is a strategic business move by the Japanese firm, which is looking to go further international in response to the oversaturation of the Japan market, which already has plenty of their local department stores Ito-Yokado, Sogo and Seibu, as well as Seven Bank. While 7-Eleven (part of the company umbrella since 2005) is a start, acquiring Speedway – which parent company Marathon Petroleum has been announcing to spin off since October 2019 – would pick up around 4,000 gas stations with attached convenience stores located in 47 out of 50 US States. That could be the biggest market boost Seven & I Holdings would have yet.
Despite the sound reasoning for this transaction, the sheer size of the acquisition value by the Japanese firm during uncertain times has caused Japanese investors to worry. This resulted in a close to 9% drop in Seven & I Holdings shares at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. After all, its home-front subsidiaries have been affected by their own local community quarantines and business closures in response to the COVID pandemic. While Speedway will officially be part of Seven & I by the first quarter of 2021, it will still come with an expected net profit tumble of 45% by that time.
Image from Nikkei Asian Review