The Telegraph: Fresh Doubts Over Shell and BG merger as Qatar Sells £1bn Stake
The Qatar Investment Authority has offloaded shares in Shell and BG worth nearly £1bn in recent weeks, raising fresh questions over whether the oil giants’ proposed mega-merger has the support of major shareholders.
The sovereign wealth fund, led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed AlThani, a member of the Qatari royal family, has sold around 43m shares in BG Group, worth roughly £550m, and a further 24m shares in Shell, with a value of approximately £421m.
The sell-off, over a period of less than three weeks between the end of October and the first week of November, will be a blow to Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden.
The Dutchman has had to fend off persistent questions about the logic of pressing ahead with Shell’s mammoth £43bn takeover of BG Group despite the dramatic slump in the price of oil. MORE