The UK finance ministry stands to make close to $300 million and banks, law firms and other advisers will receive as much again, if the Shell-BG takeover gets the go-ahead later this month.
There are less than three weeks to go until the Anglo-Dutch major’s general meeting on January 27th when shareholders vote on the takeover. BG’s own shareholders will vote a day later.
The deal is now worth about $53 billion, down from the initial $70 billion, thanks ultimately to low oil prices. Of that roughly 1% goes in payments, including the UK government’s 0.5% in Stamp Duty.
If it goes ahead, BG will pay $141.6-$158 million to its service providers while Shell will pay $446-467 million, according to the prospectus for the deal, published on December 22nd last year. But Shell will have to pay close to $1 billion in fees if it cannot sell the deal to its shareholders.
