Shell shareholders approve merger with BG

The Hague-based Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday revealed its shareholders voted in favor of the merger with BG Group, opening the door for the creation of the world’s biggest LNG player.

According to a statement by Shell, 83.08 percent votes were in favor of the merger while 16.92 percent voted against.

Should BG shareholders approve the offer at shareholder meetings to be held on January 28, the transaction would be expected to complete on February 15, Shell said.

Shell’s CEO, Ben van Beurden said the company’s immediate focus is on completing the transaction.

If approved by BG shareholders, the deal would raise Shell’s market value close to $175 billion. The deal itself is currently priced at around $49 billion, less than $20 billion from the value in April.

LNG colossus

If approved at BG’s shareholder meetings on January 28, the merger will create the world’s largest LNG shipping operator, managing and operating around 70 vessels that carry chilled gas.

The combined company will also have one of the world’s largest LNG portfolios including multiple production sources around the world.

LNG World News poll

LNG World News recently created two polls for our readers to give their opinion on how they think Shell’s and BG shareholders will vote on the proposed merger.

The first poll revealed that 75.2 percent of Shell’s shareholders would approve the deal, while 24.8 percent of the shareholders would say no to the combination worth $70 billion at the time of the offer in April.

According to the results from the second poll, 79 percent of BG’s shareholders would say yes to the merger, while 21 percent of the shareholders would be against the deal.

LNG World News Staff