The Shell shareholders, meeting in The Hague on Wednesday, voted 83 percent in favor of Shell's purchase of its smaller rival, and BG shareholders, who will benefit from the high price of the transaction, did the same during a meeting in London on Thursday. The deal will become final on Feb. 15.
The merger not only would make Shell the world's largest producer of liquid natural gas (LNG), a position now held by ExxonMobil Corp., but also would make it the largest publicly owned company in Britain.
When Shell CEO Ben van Beurden announced his intention to buy BG in April, his offering price was close to $70 billion. But that was nine months after the average global price of oil began its plunge, along with the value of Shell's stock, and as oil prices have continued to fall, the transaction's value has declined to about $51 billion.
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Even that price, though, was seen as a lot to spend by a company, no matter how large, that has been hit so hard by the depressed oil market. Before the vote, one large Shell investor, Standard Life, the savings and investment company, called the purchase “value destructive” for shareholders, and others have suggested a renegotiation in the terms of the deal.