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DALLAS-After 14 years as majority owner, Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd. has lobbed a $1.2-billion offer for the remaining shares of the locally based convenience store giant in a move to take it private. The deal, if culminated, won't impact 7-Eleven Inc.'s plan to anchor a $100-million, mixed-use development Downtown.

"We still intend to move Downtown," Carole Davidson, 7-Eleven's vice president of investor relations, tells GlobeSt.com. "Dallas will remain the headquarters for the US operation." In April, the corporation inked a 15-year lease, with a trio of five-year options, for about 300,000 sf in the 22-story One Arts Plaza, which broke ground on a 10-acre tract about six weeks ago.

Dallas corporate execs have set up a special committee to consider the majority owner's offer for the 27.3% remaining shares. The committee's marching orders requires a recommendation to shareholders on or before Sept. 19. "This is just the first step," Davidson says, careful not to speculate about the outcome despite the Japanese owner's clout. Nikko Citigroup Ltd. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are acting as financial advisers and Nishimura & Partners and Shearman & Sterling LLP, the legal adviser.