Shell bids 47 billion pounds for British gas firm BG

Shell has put in a bid of about 47 billion pounds (64.3 billion euros) for the British gas firm BG, the two companies announced Wednesday. The bid consists of 383 pence (about 5.25 euros) in cash and 0.4454 Shell shares for each BG share, which amounts to a premium of nearly 50 percent of BG's closing price on Tuesday. The transaction still has to be approved by the shareholders. The deal is expected to close early next year. Shell expects the acquisition to make piecemeal contributions to earnings per share in 2017, followed by a "strong" contribution in 2018. "This is an important transaction for Shell, accelerating the delivery of our strategy for shareholders. The result will be more competitive, stronger company for both sets of shareholders in today's volatile oil price world," said Jorma Ollila, chairman of Shell, about the acquisition. "The offer from Shell delivers attractive returns to shareholders and has strong strategic logic. BG's deep water positions and strengths in exploration, liquefaction and LNG shipping and marketing will combine well with Shell's scale, development expertise and financial strength. The consolidated business will be strongly placed to develop the growth projects in BG's portfolio," said BG CEO Helge Lund.