Dive Brief:
- 7-Eleven and parent company Seven & i Holdings have agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, according to a Monday press release.
- The suit stems from the retailer buying a gas station in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2018. 7-Eleven had agreed to give the FTC a 30 day notice of the acquisition but failed to do so, according to the announcement.
- This settlement is the largest civil penalty ever collected in an FTC case involving a prior-notice violation, the commission said. Still, it’s much less than the $77 million maximum fine the FTC initially outlined when it introduced the suit two years ago.
Dive Insight:
The consent order stems from 7-Eleven’s 2018 acquisition of more than 1,000 gas stations from Sunoco. Because the parties had competing c-stores in 76 local markets, the FTC required 7-Eleven to divest certain locations and give the commission 30 days notice before buying a store in any of those markets, including St. Petersburg.
In December 2018, 7-Eleven purchased the store in question. It realized the error in 2022 and self-reported to the FTC, according to a statement from 7-Eleven when the lawsuit was announced. The FTC learned that 7-Eleven’s internal controls for ensuring it complied with the consent order were “wholly inadequate,” according to the announcement.
“For merger remedies to work, firms must abide by the terms of their consent orders, and we will hold parties accountable when they don’t live up to their commitments,” said Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.
In addition to the $4.5 million in civil penalties, 7-Eleven had to divest the St. Petersburg store and commit to additional prior approval and prior notice requirements.
