Investing.com– Apollo Global Management (NYSE: ) is considering taking a major stake in a bid by Seven & i’s founding Ito family to take the Japanese convenience store chain private, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The US private equity giant is considering investing as much as 1.5 trillion yen ($9.5 billion) for a stake in the firm after it goes private, Bloomberg reported.

Apollo may join the Ito family and Itochu Corp as key investors Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (YOU:). The Ito family is considering a commitment of about 500 billion yen and Itochu more than 1 trillion yen, Bloomberg reported.

The current privatization proposal sees an equity stake of up to 4 trillion yen, with other financing from banks.

Seven & i, which owns the popular 7-Eleven convenience store chain, has been the target of increased takeover interest in recent months, after Canada. Alimentation Couche Tard Inc (TSX:) bid about 7.5 trillion yen for the company. While Seven&i rejected the offer, it followed reports that the company’s founding Ito family was also considering taking the company private in a consortium buyout.

Seven&i’s market capitalization stood at nearly 6.3 trillion yen as of Friday. Its shares jumped 5% even as it clocked a 24% year-over-year drop in third-quarter earnings.