Shell may be able to cut costs after it takes over BG Group, but with oil prices this low, shareholders are not getting good business
Forget $70 a barrel, the first boast. Forget $60, the second claim. Shell’s takeover of BG Group apparently now makes financial sense at a mere $50. At that price, according to Tuesday’s formal takeover prospectus, the combination would boost cash flow as soon as 2016.
“This underlines the benefits of the transaction to shareholders,” intones the bidder, “particularly in the current oil market downturn, as it structurally reduces the oil price breakeven of Shell.” In other words: please, dear investors, don’t get any fancy ideas into your heads about voting down chief executive Ben van Beurden’s landmark £36bn transaction just because the oil price has fallen and the takeover price now looks over-cooked.
Related: Shell shareholders move to back £35bn takeover of BG