Tard's attempt to create a global convenience store behemoth was set back when it pulled its $46 billion bid for Seven & i , whose consumers in Japan have emotional ties to their purveyor of rice balls.

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s decision to walk away in frustration from an attempted acquisition of Seven & i Holdings Co. set off a debate in Tokyo as to what lessons foreign companies with ambitions for M&A should draw.

Shares in the Laval, Que.-based company closed up eight per cent at $74 on Thursday as the market digested the news that there would be no deal between Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. and Couche-Tard, which accused its takeover target of “lack of constructive engagement.”