The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Shell sells most of Woodside stake for $5.7B in cash:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/shell-to-sell-large-stake-in-australian-gas-company

Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday that it would offload the majority of its stake in Woodside Petroleum, Australia’s biggest independent oil and natural gas producer, in a deal worth $5.7 billion.

Shell is selling a 19 percent stake in the Australian company, and its holding will drop to a maximum of 4.5 percent after the deal, from 23.1 percent.

Shell has been saying for some time that its Woodside stake was “non-strategic,” which is a codeword meaning it will be sold. The remaining 4.5% equity stake will probably go as soon as Shell finds a buyer for it.

Paradoxically, Shell tried to acquire Woodside—one of the early LNG developers—in 2001, but the Australian government blocked the deal.

Shell plans to divest roughly $15B of assets during 2014-2015.