Collapse of $46 Billion Buyout Ramps Up Pressure on Seven & i

Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. dropped its ¥6.77 trillion ($45.8 billion) proposal to buy Seven & i Holdings Co., putting pressure on the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores to show shareholders it can stage a turnaround on its own.

The yearlong pursuit of what would have been the biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese company ended in acrimony, with Couche-Tard saying Seven & i’s founding Ito family had never been open to talks and blaming the board for a “calculated campaign of obfuscation and delay.”

In response, Seven & i said it was disappointed by Couche-Tard’s decision to walk away, ...