December 25th, 2013:
Merry Christmas from John Donovan
Woodside stake may be split if Shell sells out
Bankers say the holding is an obvious selloff candidate for incoming Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, who takes the job on January 1 and will offer strategy pointers on January 30 along with fourth-quarter results.
LONDON
(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) 23.1 percent stake in Australian oil and gas group Woodside Petroleum (WPL.AX) is seen as more likely to be split up and/or sold to institutional shareholders than to go in one piece to a strategic buyer, bankers said.
The holding, worth about $6.4 billion (3.9 billion pounds) and left over from Shell’s abortive attempt to acquire Woodside in 2001, has long been viewed as non-core to Shell.
This year, the Anglo-Dutch company promised to accelerate asset sales to reflate a narrowing cushion between cash inflow and investment spending.