Japan's 2nd, 4th oil refiners win approval for merger

TOKYO, Dec 12 (KUNA) -- Japan's major oil refiners Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Showa Shell Sekiyu KK said Wednesday that they have obtained all approvals necessary from the relevant domestic and foreign competition authorities for their planned merger.
Idemitsu and Showa Shell will continue to proceed with preparations for the business integration on April 1, the two companies announced in a joint statement.
The deal will create Japan's second-biggest refiner after industry leader JXTG Holdings Inc to share a third of the domestic gasoline market.
Under the plan, Showa Shell will be delisted on March 29 before becoming a subsidiary of Idemitsu through a share swap on April 1, aiming to achieve net profit of JPY 500 billion (USD 4.4 billion) or more in the total of three fiscal years through 2021.
The nation's second- and fourth- biggest oil wholesalers first announced that their business integration would be completed in 2015, but Idemitsu's founding family, which owns more than 28 percent of the company, had blocked the deal. The family eventually approved the merger after obtaining some concessions. Although Japan is the world's No. 3 energy consumer, its petroleum demand has been declining chiefly due to the falling birth rate, the aging population and energy-saving technologies.
State-run Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) is engaged in a joint venture with Idemitsu and two other firms for the 200,000 barrels-per-day Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in northern Vietnam, which has recently begun commercial operations. (end) mk.tg