Idemitsu Kosan Co. Gas Stations and Headquarters As The Merger With Showa Shell Is In Danger

Signage for Idemitsu Kosan Co. is displayed outside a building, which houses the company's headquarters, in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. At an Idemitsu shareholder meeting in June, investors were expected to vote in favor of reappointing directors who are supporting the government-backed, $1.7 billion merger with rival Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. that's scheduled to close by April of 2017. Instead, a lawyer for Idemitsu, the scion of the companys founding family that controls 33.9 percent of the refiner, stunned onlookers by announcing the family's opposition to the deal. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images