Seven & i Holdings has secured ¥300 billion ($1.8 billion) in strategic investment from SoftBank Corp., PayPay Corp. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), with each partner investing around ¥100 billion through a private share placement.

After a separately arranged ¥400 billion share buyback, the three investors will each hold approximately 2.3% of the convenience store operator.

The investment supports Seven & i’s restructuring efforts and provides influential long-term partners as the company seeks to defend itself against activist shareholders and future takeover attempts after Alimentation Couche-Tard’s failed acquisition proposal.

The three companies aim to build a stronger retail and payments ecosystem centered on making 7-Eleven customers’ first choice.

Seven & i will leverage PayPay’s 74 million users by integrating payment and loyalty services to encourage more visits to its approximately 22,000 convenience stores in Japan. Access to LINE’s roughly 100 million monthly users will further support personalized offers, targeted promotions and data-driven customer engagement.

SoftBank plans to contribute AI technology for automating store operations as it continues to invest heavily in AI infrastructure and services. SMFG will complement the partnership with its credit-card business, V Point loyalty network and Olive digital banking platform, allowing customers to access banking, payments, rewards and financial products through Seven & i’s nationwide store network.

The investment also signals a new direction for Seven & i’s financial services business after reducing its ownership of Seven Bank to 39.9%.

Even so, Seven Bank’s network of more than 28,000 ATMs remains concentrated inside 7-Eleven stores, providing a nationwide platform for digital payments and banking services.

The retailer’s next challenge will be turning these technology and finance partnerships into sustained revenue growth.