ExxonMobil sells remaining stake in TonenGeneral

Exxon Mobil Corp. has sold its remaining stake in TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK, the second largest oil refiner in Japan. TonenGeneral, formerly a unit of ExxonMobil, bought a controlling stake in itself from ExxonMobil in 2012, reducing ExxonMobil’s stake from 50% to 22%.

ExxonMobil had gradually reduced its stake in TonenGeneral since then, and had been replaced by Mitsui & Co. as the largest shareholder in TonenGeneral with a 6.37% stake.

The stake sale will not change TonenGeneral’s business relationship with ExxonMobil affiliates such as the usage of the Esso and Mobil brands, an alliance for lubricants manufacturing and sales as well as technical support in refining and other intellectual property.

TonenGeneral also announced that it plans to establish a U.S. affiliate in Houston, Texas, bringing its overseas offices to five, following the establishment of the TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. Singapore branch office in June 2012, Abu Dhabi representative office in November 2013, Doha representative office in March 2015, and the NUC Corporation Shanghai representative office in September 2014.

The overseas affiliate will be named TonenGeneral Americas L.L.C. and will be established on March 1, with Takashi Shirokawa as president and manager. The purpose of the affiliate is to procure raw materials from the U.S. and to develop a market for petroleum and petrochemical products from Japan.