'Highly Misleading': Alimentation Couche-Tard Stock (TSE:ATD) Notches up as Seven & i Pushes Back
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When the deal ultimately fell through, Couche-Tard declared that Seven & i had pretty much scuttled the whole thing by refusing to play along for the year that Couche-Tard tried, ultimately in vain, to get something going. But Seven & i is fighting back, calling Couche-Tard's remarks 'highly misleading,' and noting that Seven & i acted in good faith that whole time.
In fact, for all of Couche-Tard's allegations that Seven & i was a dead fish, Seven & i's response was that, essentially, Couche-Tard was the exact opposite: a loose cannon in a china shop that absolutely did not care about consequences. Seven & i's concerns about antitrust issues and the broader market were largely dismissed, and Couche-Tard had no real plan to address those concerns at all.
Missed Opportunity or Dodged Bullet?
Meanwhile, outside observers are surveying the wreckage of the deal, and wondering if this was a missed opportunity. Indeed, some outsiders think exactly that. But a substantial amount of outsiders are also thinking that this was less a missed opportunity and more a missed disaster in the making.
Mohamed Amer, PhD, who also serves as a 'CEO & strategic board advisor' as well as a 'strategy doctor,' noted that Couche-Tard here '…avoided a likely disaster in terms of value destruction, and 7-Eleven gets to continue controlling its strategic direction and cultural coherence.' Headcount Corporation founder and CEO Mark Ryski noted that '…it's not unusual for one or both parties to get cold feet. I suspect that's what happened here.' While there certainly would have been advantages in some senses—Couche-Tard's footprint would have gone way up while Seven & i could have focused on its Japanese business—it may well have been for the best to shutter the deal altogether.
Is Alimentation Couche-Tard Stock a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on TSE:ATD stock based on 12 Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 7.29% loss in its share price over the past year, the average TSE:ATD price target of C$82.67 per share implies 7.38% upside potential.
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