|
Daily Telegraph: Resistance pays off for Shell rebels: "Rebel
Shell shareholders who refused to accept the terms of
the the oil company's restructuring, because it left
them with big tax bills, look to have been rewarded for
their resistance.": "More than 1,000 British
shareholders who accepted the terms are now considering
suing Shell to claw back the money to pay the tax
bill.": Saturday 5 November 2005
By Christopher
Hope, Business Correspondent (Filed:
05/11/2005)
Rebel Shell shareholders who refused
to accept the terms of the the oil company's
restructuring, because it left them with big tax bills,
look to have been rewarded for their resistance.
UK investors in Royal Dutch
Petroleum are being offered €52.21 for every share held,
three per cent more than the share price in mid-July
just before the merger of Royal Petroleum and Shell
Transport & Trading was agreed.
Shell, which has already won the
support of 98.5 per cent of holders in Royal Dutch
Petroleum, made the offer to the remaining 1.5 per cent
in a letter this week. The new price reflects the
average price between July and October.
UK holders are allowed to receive a
loan note under the terms of the deal, rather than cash,
to avoid having to pay capital gains tax.
A Shell spokesman said: "We believe
that the merger consideration is not less than the price
that would have been determined by a Dutch court in a
squeeze-out procedure if a squeeze-out were being
implemented at this point in time."
Shell's plans to create a
£130billion giant called Royal Dutch Shell were heavily
criticised by The Daily Telegraph for leaving 3,000 UK
holders in Royal Dutch Petroleum with a £77 million
capital gains tax bill earlier this week.
More than 1,000 British shareholders
who accepted the terms are now considering suing Shell
to claw back the money to pay the tax bill.
|
