【英语财经】壳牌收购英国天然气已获中国批准 Royal Dutch Shell aims to bolster case for BG takeover

Royal Dutch Shell moved to bolster shareholder support for its proposed takeover of BG Group after Chinese regulators on Monday gave the deal their approval.

Shell announced that the combined group would cut up to 2,800 staff upon completion, or 3 per cent of the enlarged workforce, as it looks to secure one of the largest energy deals of recent years amid the oil price crash. Brent crude was trading at $37 on Monday.

Shares in BG fell 0.7 per cent on Monday to close at ￡9.20, and are about 10 per cent lower than the price outlined by Shell in its cash-and-stock bid, partly reflecting some concern that shareholders might not approve the deal.

The takeover requires the support of a majority of Shell shareholders and 75 per cent of those at BG.

One top-20 investor in Shell said: “The takeover price is far too expensive with oil trading at these levels. Investors should vote against it, but many probably won’t.”

A smaller investor in Shell and BG said the deal, at the current oil price, was “very expensive and makes less sense” compared to when there was hope of crude rising to $70 per barrel.

Another smaller investor said: “Companies always say they can make synergies out of these deals, but it is not clear that Shell can with BG, if the oil price remains low.”

However, Chris Wheaton of Allianz Global Investors, another top-20 Shell shareholder, expressed support for the BG takeover, saying that it would strengthen its position in deepwater oil production and liquefied natural gas.

“That’s what the BG deal brings to Shell — some very good deep water assets and some additional liquefied natural gas production and sales volumes,” he said.

“The market is taking the current oil price, assuming it lasts forever and saying it’s a bad deal for Shell shareholders as it reduces Shell’s ability to pay a dividend. I don’t share that scepticism.”

When Shell unveiled its proposed takeover of BG in April, its long-term planning range for the oil price was $70 to $110 per barrel for Brent.

In July, Shell said that the deal worked at $70 per barrel, and last month Ben van Beurden, chief executive, lowered the anticipated break-even oil price for the combined group to the “mid-60s”.

Shell announced on Monday that it had received unconditional approval for the BG takeover from China’s ministry of commerce, reassuring investors who had worried that these regulators might demand asset sales.

The combined Shell-BG Group would be the world’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, and China is a major LNG importer.

Shell has obtained clearance for the BG takeover from regulators in Brazil, the EU and Australia, but executives were concerned that Chinese approval would be the most difficult to secure.

Confirming Shell now had all the required regulatory approvals, Mr van Beurden said: “This is a strategic deal that will make Shell a more profitable and resilient company in a world where oil and gas prices could remain lower for some time.

“We will now seek approval from both sets of shareholders as we move towards deal completion in early 2016.”

Analysts at Barclays said that if both sets of shareholders approved the deal, Shell’s takeover of BG could now be completed by late January or mid-February.

“Although the spread between the BG share price and implied offer price has widened in recent weeks we see the comments by [Mr van Beurden] as further evidence, if it was needed, as commitment to the deal by Shell even in a weaker oil price environment,” the analysts added.

荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)正着手争取股东支持拟议中的收购英国天然气集团(BG Group)的交易。此前，中国监管机构在周一批准了这一交易。

壳牌宣布，合并后的集团在交易完成后会裁撤总计2800名员工，占合并后员工总数的3%，该集团将寻求在油价暴跌之际，敲定这项近年最大规模的能源协议之一。周一，布伦特(Brent)基准原油的价格为每桶37美元。

周一，英国天然气集团的股价下跌0.7%，收于每股9.2英镑，比壳牌以现金和换股方式开出的价码中给出的大致价格低了大约10%，这在一定程度上反映出某些人对股东可能不会批准这一交易的担忧。

这次收购需要得到壳牌多数股东和英国天然气集团75%的股东的支持。

今年4月壳牌披露拟议中对英国天然气集团的收购交易时，该公司为布伦特原油价格制定的长期规划区间为每桶70美元到110美元之间。

今年7月，壳牌曾表示该交易在每桶70美元的油价水平上是划算的。而就在上个月，壳牌首席执行官范伯登(Ben van Beurden)将合并后集团的预期收支平衡油价降低至每桶“65美元左右”。

周一，壳牌宣布已收到中国商务部对收购英国天然气集团交易的无条件批准，让那些担心这些监管机构可能会要求双方抛售资产的投资者放宽心。

合并后的壳牌-英国天然气集团会成为全球液化天然气的最大供应商，而中国是液化天然气的主要进口国。

目前，在对英国天然气集团的收购交易上，壳牌已得到巴西、欧盟(EU)和澳大利亚监管机构的批准，多名高管曾担心中国监管机构的批准将最难得到。

范伯登确认壳牌目前已获得所有必要的监管机构批准，他说：“这是个战略性的交易，将在油气价格可能会在一段时间内保持较低水平之际，提高壳牌的盈利能力和承压能力。

“如今我们将寻求得到双方股东的批准，争取在2016年初完成交易。”

巴克莱银行(Barclays)分析师表示，如果双方股东批准该交易，壳牌对英国天然气集团的收购可能会在1月底或2月中以前完成。

译者/简易