TOKYO —

Masatoshi Ito, the founder and honorary chairman of Seven & i Holdings Co, will give 6 billion yen worth of his shareholdings in the retail giant to over 5,000 managerial employees of group companies, it was learned Wednesday.

The offer by the founder, unprecedented in terms of the size, is designed to bolster the morale of employees as the group fights against headwind in its business.

Ito will offer about 10% of his 2.2% stake in Seven & i Holdings held as of February 2007, giving at least 100 shares worth some 300,000 yen to each employee qualified for the offer.

Seven & i suffered the first operating profit drop in six years in the year that ended in February this year, dragged down by slack domestic consumption.

JCN

2 Comments

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  gogogo at 12:22 PM JST - 1st May

  Hello? You know why he is doing this? So those managers don't sue for NOT being paid overtime like the Mcdonalds managers all did!

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  regev at 03:45 PM JST - 1st May

  6 billion - wow - that's impressive! A brave and honorable step by the chairman. Hope it will help to cheer up his employees. Why can't my boss do the same?

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