The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Alimentation Couche-Tard is vowing to pursue retailer Seven & i Holdings for as long as it takes, as the Canadian convenience store giant tries to lay the groundwork for what would be the largest takeover of a Japanese company by a foreign-based enterprise. The Globe's Nicolas Van Praet and Jameson Berkow write that Couche-Tard chief executive officer Alex Miller is in Tokyo this week on a multiday trip with founder and chair Alain Bouchard, chief financial officer Filipe Da Silva, and special adviser Brian Hannasch. They are meeting with various Seven & i stakeholders in a bid to forge relationships and build some comfort around the idea that Couche-Tard has no intention of destroying its culture. "We're not going away," Mr. Miller told The Globe. "We'll get this deal." Seven & i controls the 7-Eleven chain's 85,000 stores around the world as well as a series of other assets including a bank, life insurance units and credit card businesses. The approach by Couche-Tard, based in Laval, Que., is seen as a test of whether Japan is ready for big cross-border mergers, or whether the country will slip back into its historic protectionist tendencies.