MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co. said it was still unable to talk to its founding family which is opposed to the firm's plans for a takeover of smaller rival Showa Shell Sekiyu, said Reuters.
Idemitsu and Showa Shell last month put on hold the deal indefinitely after running into fierce opposition from the Idemitsu founding family.
Idemitsu's general manager of public relations, Soichi Kobayashi, said that Idemitsu will still press ahead with one portion of the deal - a signed agreement to acquire a 33.3% stake in Showa Shell from Royal Dutch Shell after getting approval from the nation's antitrust regulator.
"There has been no change in the status quo since (October) the 13th," when Idemitsu announced delaying an integration indefinitely from the originally planned April 1 target, Kobayashi told reporters after a news conference on its half-year earnings.
"We do not have much time, and we would like to approach the founding family positively." The founding family has, however, claimed it will be able to scuttle this part of the transaction too after buying a small stake in Showa Shell.
That purchase has meant that if Idemitsu buys the stake from Royal Dutch Shell, Idemitsu may have to, by law, make a tender offer for the rest of Showa Shell shares. Idemitsu would be reluctant to make a tender offer since that would increase its total acquisition cost.
Asked whether Idemitsu can avoid the tender offer if it obtained the approval from Japan Fair Trade Commission, Kobayashi declined to comment.
The company posted a net profit of USD216 MM in the six months ended in September, as inventory losses shrank.
As MRC informed earlier, in June 2016, Idemitsu Kosan Co. and smaller rival Showa Shell Sekiyu plnned to merge on April 1 2017.
Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company runs two petrochemical plants in Chiba and Tokuyama. The two naphtha crackers can produce up to 997,000 tonnes of ethylene per year.
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