Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. said it will purchase one third of the voting rights of Showa Shell Sekiyu, Tokyo, from subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
The company said it has conducted merger discussions with Showa Shell and “would like to advance these merger discussions even further.” It cited “a low earnings structure caused by overcapacity and excessive competition” in the refining sector (OGJ Online, Mar. 26, 2014).
The purchase agreement is for 125,261,200 shares. Planned transfer of shares is first-half 2016. News reports valued the agreement as being worth $1.4 billion.