Royal Dutch Shell moves to round off unification

LONDON - Major oil company Royal Dutch Shell has announced plans to buy out remaining shareholders in its old Royal Dutch arm, putting the finishing touches to the unification of its UK and Dutch arms in July.

Royal Dutch Shell, which holds around 98.5 percent of Royal Dutch following its unification with Britain's Shell Transport and Trading, said on Tuesday the minority shareholders would receive cash or, if they prefer and are UK residents, loan notes exchangeable into Royal Dutch A shares.

It declined to estimate how much this would cost.

Royal Dutch Shell unified its British and Dutch arms in July in a bid to restore confidence after a damaging reserves overbooking scandal last year, which was blamed partly on the complicated management and ownership structure.

The company said it would effect the buyout of minority Royal Dutch shareholders by merging Royal Dutch into a subsidiary, Shell Petroleum NV.

The move would require an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders and should be completed by the end of the year, it said in a statement.

At 0826 GMT, Royal Dutch Shell shares were up 0.9 percent at Stg18.56 ($NZ48.45).

- REUTERS