Will Apollo execute the right martial art moves to get the management buyout, led by the founding Ito family, over the line? The Ito family, with backing from Itochu Corporation, is amassing the equivalent of $25 billion in equity to fund the $58 billion MBO. This is in response to a proposed takeover by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, the owners of Circle-K; its $47 billion offer was rejected. The possibility of Seven & I falling into foreign ownership has raised national security concerns by Japan’s economy minister. This could be quite the mission for Apollo. If successful, this would be Japan’s largest ever MBO and show that keeping things in the family is still achievable.