On 1 April 2019, Japanese power companies TEPCO and Chubu Electric integrated their domestic thermal power generation businesses into JERA, i.e. around 68 GW of coal-fired and gas-fired power capacity in Japan and 9 GW overseas. JERA thus became Japan's largest thermal power producer. This is the third phase of JERA's integration, after integrating TEPCO's and Chubu Electric's LNG and fuel supply - JERA operates their LNG terminals - and handling upstream energy assets and overseas power generation activities. JERA will now control JPY4,000bn (US$36bn) of assets and cover the entire supply chain for power generation. TEPCO and Chubu Electric will continue to operate their power transmission grids and retail activities separately.
In addition, Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan (IK) has officially taken over its rival Showa Shell Sekiyu KK on 1 April 2019, strengthening its position of second largest refining group in Japan. The merger was announced in November 2015 but the fierce opposition of the Idemitsu founding family, which owns just over 28% of IK, suspended the merger process in October 2016 until July 2017, when the Tokyo High Court rejected the Idemitsu founding family's claims. The new company will have annual sales of more than US$52bn, operating seven refineries with a combined capacity of 950,000 bbl/d and 6,500 service stations.
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