TOKYO >> Japan’s Seven & i Holdings has approached private equity funds and other parties about a potential sale of its Ito-Yokado stores and supermarkets, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Based on earnings multiples, the sale value could reach 320 billion yen ($2.19 billion), Bloomberg said, citing one of the sources. That follows a report today that Seven & i is considering selling part of its Seven Bank unit.

A Seven & i spokesperson, responding to the report, said: “It is not something officially announced by our company, and we do not comment on market rumours.”

Last month, the parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain rejected a $38.5 billion offer from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard that would have been the largest corporate foreign buyout of a Japanese company.

Seven & i has been under pressure from activist investor ValueAct Capital in recent years to improve its asset allocation and has sold down stakes in other lower-performing assets.

The company said in April it was considering a listing of its superstore business, which mainly comprises supermarkets, as part of a plan to maximise corporate value.