Shell’s shareholders approve $50B takeover of LNG major BG Group

1/27/2016

Shareholders of Shell voted in favor of the company's planned $50-billion takeover of BG Group on Wednesday.

The vote clears one of the final hurdles to creating the biggest LNG company in the world.

BG Group shareholders are also expected to approve the deal at their meeting on Thursday.

That vote would allow the two companies to merge on February 15.

"Our immediate focus is on the successful completion of the transaction and we now await the results of tomorrow's BG shareholder vote," Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said.

The Shell vote was held at a meeting in The Hague. In the vote, 83% of shareholders voted in favor of the deal, while just 17% opposed. More than 40% of Shell's shareholders also own about half of BG's stock, according to a Reuters report.

Some shareholders at Wednesday's meeting had expressed concern that Shell might be overpaying for BG, since oil prices have been nearly cut in half since the deal was announced in early April of last year.

But Shell's chief financial officer Simon Henry pointed out Wednesday that each $10/bbl decline in the price of oil shaves $4 billion off the combined Shell-BG cashflow.

If the deal is finalized, Shell will become the world's most powerful LNG trader and gain access to valuable resources off Brazil and in Australia.

Shares of both companies rose in Europe following the news.