The shareholders of both Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BG Group PLC have approved the proposed merger of the two companies, and the deal is set to close on Feb. 15, some 10 months after it was first reported (OGJ Online, Apr. 8, 2015).
Shell said 83% of its shareholders voted in favor of the deal at the company’s general meeting held on Jan. 27 at The Hague. More than 99% of BG’s shareholders did the same on Jan. 28 in London. Now the deal awaits sanction from the High Court.
Shell, which saw its earnings decline by more than half in 2015 (OGJ Online, Jan. 20, 2016), said in December that it plans to reduce some 10,000 staff and direct contractor positions in 2015-16 across both companies (OGJ Online, Dec. 14, 2015).
Capital investment for Shell and BG together in 2016 is expected at $33 billion. In Shell’s earnings announcement for 2015, Ben van Beurden, chief executive officer, said, “Preparations are well advanced for $30 billion of asset sales in 2016-18, assuming the successful completion of the combination.”
