TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Seven & i Holdings Co. said Thursday it has appointed outside director Stephen Dacus as CEO, as it seeks to maximize its corporate value through a massive share buyback and restructuring under the new leadership, to fend off a takeover bid by a Canadian rival.

Dacus, a former CEO of the operator of rival retailer Seiyu Co. which was part of U.S. retail giant Walmart Inc., will replace Ryuichi Isaka to become the first non-Japanese CEO of Seven & i, subject to approval at its general shareholders' meeting on May 27.

Isaka will become a senior advisor at Seven & i, which runs the 7-Eleven convenience business in Japan, North America and other countries.

The leadership change comes a week after Seven & i said its founding family had withdrawn a proposed management buyout of the retailer, which was intended to fend off a $47 billion takeover from Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. The family gave up on the plan due to a lack of interested investors.

Seven & i said the same day that it will buy back its own shares worth 2 trillion yen ($13 billion), equivalent to over a third of its market capitalization, a move which is expected to boost its share price and market value.

The retailer also agreed to sell its subsidiary operating Ito-Yokado supermarket chain to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital for 814.7 billion yen, while planning to list its U.S. 7-Eleven convenience store business unit on a U.S. market in 2026.

The sale of the non-core supermarket business and the proceeds from the listing will help fund its planned share buyback, as Seven & i is pressing ahead with restructuring to focus on its core convenience business and to enhance its corporate value.

Among other reform efforts, the company said it will sell part of its shareholdings in Seven Bank Ltd. to deconsolidate the banking subsidiary.

"We must move forward to the future. We must build on the successful foundation that we have," Dacus said at a press conference.

The new CEO said his company will "continue to engage" with its Canadian rival but added that the takeover plan would face high regulatory hurdles in the United States.

Isaka said at the press conference that Dacus has ample experience in the retail industry and hopes he will push ahead to raise the company's share price, which could make Couche-Tard's takeover more difficult.

The outgoing top executive took the helm at Seven & i in 2016, replacing the company's charismatic leader Toshifumi Suzuki, who is credited with bringing the 7-Eleven brand to Japan and growing it into one of the most successful convenience store chains in the world.

Under Isaka, who led the company's 7-Eleven business before assuming the role of president, Seven & i has propelled restructuring efforts, selling its department store unit and preparing to spin off its supermarket operations.

Dacus became a Seven & i outside director in 2022 after working as an executive at various Japanese companies, including Fast Retailing Co., the owner of the Uniqlo clothing chain, as well as the operator of the Sushiro conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain.

Seven & i said in August last year that it had received a takeover proposal from Couche-Tard, the operator of Circle K convenience stores, with the offer exceeding 7 trillion yen.

In an effort to block the takeover, Seven & i Vice President Junro Ito, a son of the company founder, and Ito-Kogyo Co., which manages the family's assets, had sought to take the retail conglomerate private but gave up on the plan after struggling to raise funds.

The planned deal, estimated to cost around 9 trillion yen, would have been the biggest management buyout in Japan.

Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. and Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group were among the companies approached for financial assistance by the founding family.