The fight is on for Japanese 7-Eleven owner Seven & i : Its founding family, alongside other Japanese investors, have proposed what would be a risky and record-breaking buyout to counter a bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard. Late Tuesday, reports emerged that Seven & i’s founding family, alongside existing investors and trading house Itochu are considering a buyout of the company. About a third of that would be financed by cash and equity from the investor group, with the other two-thirds ($38.7 billion) coming from loans by Japan’s three biggest banks, according to the report.