Seven & i considers selling down supermarket stake ahead of IPO, sources say

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Seven & i Holdings is considering selling a stake in its supermarket unit ahead of a planned listing of the business, two sources said, as the 7-Eleven owner aims to speed up an overhaul after rejecting a takeover from Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Neither the timeline of the potential sale nor the size of the stake were immediately clear. Seven & i was considering selling to an investor such as a fund, said the sources, both of whom had knowledge of the matter, but declined to be identified because the information has not been made public.

The unit includes the Ito-Yokado supermarket chain, one of Japan's best-known grocery store businesses.

Seven & i last month rejected a buyout offer from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard saying the price was too low. The Japanese company in April said it was considering listing the supermarket business as early as the 2027 financial year.

The sale will allow Seven & i to both accelerate its overhaul of the supermarket business and free up resources to better focus on the core convenience store unit, one of the sources said.

A Seven & i spokesperson said the information was not something released by the company and nothing had been decided at this time.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Shimizu; Editing by David Dolan and Mark Potter)