Japan’s Sogo & Seibu department stores are being sold to a US fund as 900 workers go on strike

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings Co. is selling department store chain Sogo & Seibu Co. to a U.S. investment fund, as the labor union went on strike ahead of the announcement. The transfer to Fortress Investment Group will be completed Friday, according to Seven & i Holdings. The decision came at a board of directors meeting Thursday. The proposed sales price is 220 billion yen, or $1.5 billion, but the final price won’t be decided until Friday. Some 900 striking employees were marching and handing out leaflets near the main Seibu department store in Tokyo. Disorderly strikes and protests are rare in Japan, and the strikers apologized on Japanese news programs for any inconvenience.