The JAPAN ENERGY CORPORATION ("J Energy"), ITOCHU Corporation ("ITOCHU"), ITOCHU ENEX CO., LTD ("Enex"), OSAKA GAS CO., LTD. ("Osaka Gas"), and NISSHO PETROLEUM GAS CORPORATION ("Nissho") have done the investigation designed to restructure and merge Liquid Petroleum Gas ("LPG") operations (announced on February 21, 2008) now have reached a basic agreement to establish a new company to merge the functions of import and wholesales as follows;
Outline of the integrated new company
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(1) Company name |
: |
Japan Gas Energy Co. Ltd. (tentative) |
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(2) Head Office |
: |
(undecided) |
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(3) President |
: |
undecided (intend to be appointed by J Energy) |
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(4) Paid-in Capital |
: |
(undecided) |
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(5) Date of the establishment |
: |
April 1st , 2009 (plan) |
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(6) Share holders |
: |
J Energy 51% Nissho 29% Enex 20% |
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(7) Business Activities |
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Import LPG, Sales (wholesales) |
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(8) Sales Amounts |
: |
approx. 280 billion yen (annual) |
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(9) Import Volume |
: |
1.5 million tons (annual) |
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(10) Sales Volume |
: |
2.25 million tons (annual) |
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(11) Others |
: |
Unify LPG overseas procurement functionality with ITOCHU |
2.Background and Objective
The Japanese LPG industry is currently in a difficult business environment due to rising prices of LPG imports and sluggish growth prospects caused by fierce competition with other energy sources and the five concerned parties have hereby reached the mutual conclusion that individual efforts to streamline operations are insufficient for weathering the difficult situation.
The five concerned parties, intending to create an LPG business group which will be capable of efficiently providing a stable supply of LPG products with a comprehensive competitive edge across the entire range of LPG operations from overseas procurement to retail sales, have investigated the scheme of alliance.
3.Future schedule
The five concerned parties will investigate the details to establish the integrated new company and investigate a scheme to align operations and capital of J Energy, Nissho, and Enex retail affiliates in order to strengthen competitiveness in the retail segment.
Company Summaries
| 1. JAPAN ENERGY CORPORATION ( http://www.j-energy.co.jp/english/ ) |
| Headquarters |
: |
Toranomon 2 chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
| President |
: |
Isao MATSUSHITA |
| Share capital |
: |
¥48 billion |
| Established |
: |
April 2003 |
| Business operations |
: |
Oil exploration, refining, and sales of petroleum products, import and sales of LPG, production and sales of petrochemicals
|
| Sales |
: |
¥3.19 trillion (as of March 2008) |
| Number of employees |
: |
2,700 |
| |
|
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| 2. ITOCHU Corporation ( http://www.itochu.co.jp/main/index_e.html ) |
| Headquarters |
: |
Kita-Aoyama 2 chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
| President |
: |
Eizo KOBAYASHI |
| Share capital |
: |
¥202 billion |
| Established |
: |
December 1949 |
| Business operations |
: |
Trading House |
| Sales |
: |
¥12.4 trillion (as of March 2008) |
| Number of employees |
: |
4,222 |
| |
|
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| 3. ITOCHU ENEX CO., LTD ( http://www.itcenex.com/english/ ) |
| Headquarters |
: |
Shibaura 3 chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
| President |
: |
Akira KODERA |
| Share capital |
: |
¥19.8 billion (52.15% held by ITOCHU) |
| Established |
: |
January 1961 |
| Business operations |
: |
Petroleum products, LPG sales |
| Sales |
: |
¥1.94 trillion (as of March 2008) |
| Number of employees |
: |
600 |
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|
|
| 4. OSAKA GAS CO., LTD. ( http://www.osakagas.co.jp/indexe.html ) |
| Headquarters |
: |
Hirano-machi 4chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka |
| President |
: |
Hirofumi SHIBANO |
| Share capital |
: |
¥132.1 billion |
| Established |
: |
April 1897 |
| Business operations |
: |
Gas production, delivery, and sales; LPG sales; Electricity generation and sales; etc.
|
| Sales |
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¥1.12 trillion (as of March 2008) |
| Number of employees |
: |
5,418 |
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|
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| 5. NISSHO PETROLEUM GAS CORPORATION |
| Headquarters |
: |
Nishi-Shinbashi 1 chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
| President |
: |
Takao SHINKEYA |
| Share capital |
: |
¥1.7 billion (52.5% held by Osaka Gas, 25% by ITOCHU, And 22.5% by Sojitz ) |
| Established |
: |
May 1990 |
| Business operations |
: |
Importation and sales of LPG, LNG and petroleum products |
| Sales |
: |
¥148.6 billion (As of March 2008) |
| Number of employees |
: |
50 |
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|
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Summary of LPG Operations at Each Company
| |
Japan Energy
Group |
ITOCHU
Corporation
ITOCHU Enex
Group |
Nissho LP Gas
Group |
Total |
Trade volume
(Japan-bound volumes)
(2007) |
－ |
4 million tons
(2.4 million tons) |
－ |
4 million tons
(2.4 million tons) |
Import volume
(2007) |
900 thousand
tons |
－ |
460 thousand tons |
1.36 million tons |
Production volume
(2007) |
150 thousand
tons |
－ |
－ |
150 thousand
tons |
Domestic sales
(2007) |
1.19 million tons |
1.1million tons |
870 thousand tons |
2.25 million tons
(NOTE 1) |
| Import terminal |
3 sites
·Ibaraki Pref.
Kamisu-shi
(Kashima);
·Kanagawa Pref.
Kawasaki-shi;
·Ookayama Pref.
Kurashiki-shi
(Mizushima) |
2 sites
·Mie Pref. Yokkaichi-shi;
·
Ookayama Pref.Kurashiki-shi(Mizushima) |
1 site
·Mie Pref. Yokkaichi-shi |
4 sites
(NOTE 2) |
Secondary
terminal |
4 sites
·Miyagi Pref.
Shiogama-shi,;
·Shizuoka Pref.
Shida-gun, Oigawa-machi;
·Hiroshima Pref.
Hiroshima-shi;
·Kagoshima Pref.
Kagoshima-shi |
1 site
·Nagasaki Pref.
Nagasaki-shi |
2 sites
·Hiroshima Pref.
Hiroshima-shi;
·Ehime Pref.
Iyo-gun,
Masaki-machi |
7 sites |
Number of
households
supplied |
70 thousand |
330 thousand |
100 thousand |
500 thousand |
Number of
primary retail
affiliates |
3 |
9 |
10 |
22 |
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(NOTE 1) Does not include the sales to Enex by Japan Energy and Nissho LP Gas
(NOTE 2) Shared terminals were not counted separately, but were counted as a single.
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