7-Eleven owner poised to reject Couche-Tard takeover bid

Good morning. Today we will discuss:

• The AstraZeneca workers under investigation in China

• China’s New Backdoors to Western Markets

• Why India Struggles with Sports

However, we start with the news about the foreign takeover bid for the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven.

The board of Seven & i Holdings is on the verge of rejecting an opening bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, ending its bid for the largest-ever takeover of Japan by a foreign company.

A special committee set up by Seven & i to investigate Couche-Tard’s bid last month will dismiss the offer as insufficient and raise concerns that the deal could trigger antitrust investigations by regulators, according to three people close to the Japanese company.

In a response to Couche-Tard, which the same people say could be sent today, the Japanese company is leaving open the possibility for the Canadian group to come back with a higher bid and is keeping the process amicable for the time being.

Read more about Seven & i’s attempts to defend itself against the takeover approach.

Here’s what else I’ll be keeping an eye on today and this weekend:

• Crucial US jobs report: Investors believe today’s data will throw into question the likely size of the Federal Reserve’s first rate cut later this month. It will also be closely watched after the July report missed expectations, triggering a brutal selloff in markets around the world.

• Meeting: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida begins a two-day visit to Seoul, where he will meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

How well did you stay informed about the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. AstraZeneca said a “small number” of its employees are being investigated by police in China. The British pharmaceutical giant’s statement followed a report that revealed five current and former employees had been arrested over possible breaches of data protection laws and the distribution of a liver cancer drug that was not approved in the country.

2. China’s biggest banks prepare to issue hundreds of billions of dollars in loss-absorbing bonds designed to avoid the costly government bailouts that plagued Europe and the US after the 2008 financial crisis. But ratings agencies still expect Beijing to support the emerging market in times of crisis.

3. President Emmanuel Macron has appointed former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France’s next prime minister. Barnier is a veteran of the conservative French party Les Républicains, a party that has enticed Macron to find a candidate with a chance of winning a majority in the National Assembly. Here is how French political actors reacted to Barnier’s nomination.

4. Exclusive: Russia forced to stockpile gas of Vladimir Putin’s Arctic LNG 2 projectin a sign that Western sanctions are deterring buyers. Three vessels have shipped liquefied natural gas from the project, which is under U.S. sanctions, since it began loading operations last month, according to vessel tracking data and satellite imagery.

5. OPEC+ members have agreed to postpone planned oil production increases for at least two months as the group continues its fight to support prices that have fallen to their lowest levels this year. The group was due to start reversing voluntary production cuts from October, but the restrictions will now remain in place until December 1.

The big lecture

Chinese companies are setting up shop in countries like Singapore, Vietnam and Ireland, hoping to avoid protectionist measures imposed by Western powers on China-based companies. But as more Chinese exports are routed through these jurisdictions, officials in the U.S. and Europe are increasingly concerned about the emergence of loopholes in their markets.

We also read…

Chart of the day

Rory Green, chief China economist at TS Lombard, found that GDP explained about 90 percent of the variation in medal counts at the Paris Olympics. But India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, won just six medals this year. Why is it so bad at sport? Tej Parikh explains.

Take a break from the news

Household clutter is an unavoidable fact of life—so why hide it from guests? Oliver Burkeman embraces “sloppy hospitality,” a concept that would be valuable enough if it only gave permission to put a little less effort into keeping a pristine home. But there’s more.

Additional contributions by Melody Abike Adebisi and Tee Zhuo