The Idemitsu founding family said Tuesday it had filed a court injunction earlier in the day at the Tokyo District Court to block Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan's board decision Monday to issue new shares through a public offering.
The issuance would dilute shares held by the founding family, which has been opposing the refiner's merger with Showa Shell, to less than 30%.
Idemitsu Kosan said Monday it would issue a total of 48 million shares of common stock in a public offering in Japan and abroad, which will bring its total issued stock to 208 million shares, up from 160 million shares.
Under its public offering, Idemitsu Kosan said it expected to raise up to Yen 138.533 billion ($1.227 billion) to invest in projects such as Vietnam's Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical; Idemitsu Q8 Petroleum, a joint venture of Idemitsu Kosan and Kuwait Petroleum International; as well as building a 170,000 mt/year C8 splitter at its 160,000 b/d Aichi refinery in central Japan.
The move was just days after the company reappointed Takashi Tsukioka as CEO during its shareholders general meeting Thursday despite opposition from the Idemitsu founding family which continues to oppose the refiner's integration with Showa Shell.
Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell announced in May an alliance to cooperate on optimizing crude oil purchases, planning production better and facilitating the interchange of finished products, ahead of a long-mooted merger which is also opposed by the family.
The announcement of the alliance on May 9 came after Idemitsu Kosan acquired a 31.3% stake in Showa Shell from Anglo-Dutch major Shell on December 19, after getting the green light from the Japan Fair Trade Commission for the consolidation between Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell.
Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell in October indefinitely postponed their planned merger scheduled for April 2017 in the face of strong opposition from the Idemitsu founding family because of differences in corporate cultures and other factors.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed between the two in November 2015, the companies had planned to form a combined entity, which would have close to a one-third share of Japan's gasoline market.
