Shell shareholders vote in favor of Shell-BG merger

Royal Dutch Shell has announced the poll result from its General Meeting held on Wednesday, at The Hague, The Netherlands.

According to Shell, 83.08% of the company’s shareholders expressed their support for the recommended $49 billion worth combination with BG Group by carrying the resolution to approve and implement the transaction, and 16.92% voted against.

Should BG shareholders approve the offer at shareholder meetings to be held on January 28, 2016, the transaction would be expected to complete on February 15, 2016, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain customary conditions, including the sanction of the scheme of arrangement to implement the combination by the High Court of Justice, Shell said on Wednesday.

Commenting on the shareholder vote, Ben van Beurden, CEO of Shell, said: “I am delighted with the positive shareholder vote and the confidence that shareholders have shown in the strategic logic of the combination of Shell and BG. Our immediate focus is on the successful completion of the transaction and we now await the results of tomorrow’s BG shareholder vote.”

Offshore Energy Today previously reported that not all Shell’s shareholders would vote in favor of the proposed Shell-BG merger. Standard Life Investment, one of the shareholders, said it would vote against the merger. However, Norges Bank Investment Management, a part of Norway’s central bank Norges Bank, responsible for the management of the country’s $825 billion sovereign wealth fund, said it would vote for the proposed Shell-BG Group merger.

By acquiring BG, Shell will get hold of oil in deep water Brazil. By 2025 Brazil will be delivering 550 kb/d of oil – 13% of BG/Shell’s total production, the biggest single country position in the combined portfolio.

Furthermore, the merger will create an LNG behemoth as the deal combines the two largest IOC LNG players to create an industry giant. By 2018, the combined entity will control sales of 44 mmtpa of LNG, making it the largest LNG seller in the world.

Offshore Energy Today Staff