Japanese retailer Lawson has abandoned plans to take over am/pm Japan Co., citing difficulties in reaching a trademark agreement with its smaller rival.
Lawson announced in February that it would buy am/pm Japan for around JPY15.4bn (US$154.2m) from Rex Holdings. However, at the beginning of April, Lawson said that the need for further discussions over the deal would postpone the acquisition.
Lawson announced today (19 May) that the business alliance agreement with am/pm and the transfer of shares and receivables from Rex would be cancelled.
“Lawson determined that such agreement with the trademark licensor (which was a condition of the acquisition) would be difficult to reach and, after discussion with Rex Holdings, decided to discontinue the plan of the acquisition and dissolve the business alliance,” the company said.
Lawson added that the cancelation of the agreement would have a “minimal” impact on its results.
