March 04, 2010

By By Rob Schwartz, Tokyo

The Tokyo-based retail giant Seven & i Holdings Co., which operates the 7-11 brand of convenience stores and the Ito-Yokado supermarket chain in Japan, will acquire 21.58% of the retail music store chain Tower Records Japan.

Seven & i will buy a 16.54% stake of Tower Records Japan (TRJ) from Citigroup Capital Partners and a 5.04% stake from Asia Music Holdings for a total of about 1.6 billion yen ($18 million).

The company said it will aim to strengthen its overall online retail business by exploiting Tower Records Japan's Web presence, although it did not provide further details.

Seven & i will become the second largest shareholder in Tower Records Japan after NTT DoCoMo, which holds a 40% share. Seven & i noted in a press release on its Web site that it would consider buying more shares in TRJ if they became available.

Seven & i earlier agreed to buy a 20% stake in the ticketing company Pia Corp. and it intends to explore synergies for selling and marketing tickets to events across its convenience store chain and TRJ.

The press release, in Japanese, also said: "Seven & i Holdings will combine its deep [retail] market penetration with Tower Records' music expertise to expand the business opportunities, raise corporate value and visibility for both companies."

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