News and information on Royal Dutch Shell Plc
Evening Standard
Wall Street activist Dan Loeb says Shell risks becoming ‘tarnished’ unless it heeds his break-up call
Loeb’s Third Point Investors has been pushing for a break-up of Shell, calling its current business ‘confusing and unmanageable’
By Oscar Williams-Grut City Editor @OscarWGrut: 9 May 2022
The Wall Street activist pushing for a break-up of Shell has raised his stake in the business and said the oil giant risks becoming a “tarnished legacy brand” without reform.
Bloomberg
Loeb’s Third Point Adds to Shell Position: The London Rush
Bloomberg News: Charles Capel and Leonard Kehnscherper: May 09, 2022(Bloomberg)
EXTRACT
Third Point Investors Ltd: Dan Loeb’s flagship Offshore Fund returned -11.5% in the first quarter of 2022, dragged down by companies including Rivian Automotive, Inc and Cie Financiere Richemont SA.
The investment company said its stake in Shell Plc helped mitigate some of its losses, and it has found interesting new investments in oil and natural gas companies, as well as other companies that might benefit from inflation, supply shortages, and the energy transition
CITYA.M.
Dan Loeb adds to Shell stake despite doubling down on break-up calls
CHARLIE CONCHIE: SUNDAY 08 MAY 2022 12:29 PM
Activist investor Daniel Loeb has revealed he has added to his stake in energy giant Shell despite doubling down on calls for a shake-up to the energy major’s corporate structure.
Loeb, who revealed in October that his hedge fund Third Point had taken $750m stake in Shell, told his investors last week that he had upped his stake in the firm and had held discussions with the firm’s bosses.
Bloomberg
Activist Investor Dan Loeb Increases Shell Stake, Reuters Reports
(Bloomberg) — Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC has increased its $750 million stake in the energy giant Shell Plc as the investor seeks to pressure the company to split up its businesses, Reuters reported.
Loeb has held discussions with Shell’s management, board members and other shareholders, according to a letter sent to Third Point investors and seen by Reuters.
The letter described the company’s stock price as cheap but said there could be gains ahead with “proper management,” according to Reuters.
Reuters
Third Point’s Loeb praises Shell moves, sticks by calls for breakup
By Svea Herbst-BaylissNEW YORK, May 7 (Reuters) – Activist investor Daniel Loeb, who wants Royal Dutch Shell Plc to break apart, applauded the energy giant’s decision to move its headquarters even as he sticks to views that a different corporate structure would make it more successful.
Loeb, who said in October that his hedge fund Third Point LLC had taken a $750 million stake in the company, told his own investors on Friday that he has added to his Shell stake and has held discussions with management, board members and other shareholders.
English translation of extracts from a Forbes article published in German on 1st March 2022.
FORBES
CAN SHELL GREEN?
In the public perception, Shell is an industrial giant – now Fabian Ziegler, Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Shell Holding GmbH since spring 2020, wants to make the company greener.
Will the Swiss succeed in pulling off the coup so vital to the group’s survival?
Text: Matthias Lauerer
Photo: Deutsche Shell Holding GmbH
1st March 2022
Is Shell on its way to a carbon-neutral future? Will this be a reimagined world, where green hydrogen, e-mobility and decarbonization have become a reality? Or do they prefer to greenwash to perpetuate the dirty old business model on which the global economy hangs?
By John Donovan
Following the airing of a Channel 4 TV documentary Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant on 24th October 2021, seismic changes have taken place at Royal Dutch Shell.
Based on the timing of the chain of events, it appears that the documentary may have contributed to the decision to bring a sudden end to the oil giant in its Anglo-Dutch form, under which it operated for over a hundred years.
Joe’s controversial impersonation of Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden including Ben shown literally talking shit about the green energy transition was cringe-making but made an impact.
REUTERS
Dan Loeb swats away activist with heavy hand
December 2, 202112:35 PM GMT
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Dan Loeb, the billionaire activist calling for change at Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), has fended off his own mini-revolt.
Shareholders in Third Point Investors (TPOGu.L), a UK-listed trust that owns a stake in Loeb’s main fund, roundly rejected a move by uppity shareholder Asset Value Investors to throw a Third Point employee, Josh Targoff, off the board.
Loeb’s victory is clear. Votes against the proposal numbered 30 million, versus just 9 million for it.
Allegations and Litigation Relating to Spymasters in Shell’s Corporate Security Department
By John Donovan
See below a self-explanatory email I sent yesterday to named senior executives at Shell.
It mentions the current momentous events at Royal Dutch Shell, although that is not the subject of the email. In that connection, I have not spotted any reference in current news coverage to the Dutch police raid at Shell’s current HQ in The Hague.
That astonishing development may have fuelled a growing feeling that the Dutch government has turned anti-Shell by allowing Nigerian and climate change litigation against Shell to proceed in the Dutch courts and tightening up Dutch tax regulations affecting Shell.
FORTUNE
Shell’s decision to leave the Netherlands is about keeping investors on its side in difficult times
BY KATHERINE DUNN: November 16, 2021 4:58 PM GMTThe Dutch government is scrambling to find a way to make Royal Dutch Shell remain royal and Dutch after the oil and gas giant announced Monday that it had decided to up sticks from its home in the Hague and move its headquarters to London.
The Dutch government’s eagerness to retain the giant firm is not surprising—and exactly how Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet are trying to do so says a lot about which of Shell’s stated reasons for moving is the most important one.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Dutch government rushes to keep Shell in Netherlands
The Dutch government has launched an eleventh-hour attempt to keep Shell in the Netherlands by seeking to abolish a controversial dividend tax cited by the energy group as a reason to unify its share structure and move its headquarters to the UK. Officials from the Dutch government told the Financial Times that the caretaker government of Mark Rutte was seeking to find a last-minute parliamentary majority to scrap a 15 per cent withholding tax that has long been a source of complaint for Shell and fellow Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever. The political machinations come hours after Shell announced it would end its dual-share structure…
Minister hails ‘vote of confidence’ for Brexit Britain as Shell moves its HQ to London from the Netherlands and plans to scrap ‘Royal Dutch’ from its name
Oil giant Shell today announced it will move its headquarters and tax residence to the UK and drop ‘Royal Dutch’ from its name for the first time in 130 years.
The decision was hailed as a ‘clear vote of confidence in the British economy that will ‘create jobs’ by business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. The firm pays hundreds of millions of pounds worth of taxes every year, which will now go to the Treasury.
The Washington Post
The company, which has been incorporated in the U.K. with Dutch tax residency and dual class shares since 2005, said it wanted to move to a more conventional structure to be able to make the company more competitive as it seeks to meet the challenges of shifting toward cleaner energy.
Dutch officials said they were “unpleasantly surprised” by the move.
“The government deeply regrets that Shell wants to move its head office to the United Kingdom,” Dutch Economic Affairs and Climate Minister Stef Blok said. “We are in talks with the top of Shell about the implications of this move for jobs, critical investment decisions and sustainability.”
The New York Times
Shell Proposes Shift to Britain, Dropping ‘Royal Dutch’ From Name
The restructuring is meant to make the company more appealing to investors and make it easier to sell assets, the oil giant said.
: Nov. 15, 2021, 6:02 a.m. ETShell, Europe’s largest energy company, said Monday that it was proposing to move its headquarters to Britain from the Netherlands and make major changes in its share ownership and tax status.
The moves are designed to make the company, whose share price has lagged rivals, more appealing to investors, and they come less than a month after an activist investor, Daniel Loeb, suggested changes to the company’s structure. They are likely to be seen as a blow to the Netherlands, where Shell has an enormous presence, and a windfall for the British government as it struggles to demonstrate that Brexit can provide an economic boost.
REUTERS
Shell’s Dutch exit comes with legal side benefits
15 Nov 2021: By George Hay
Shifting its tax residency to the UK, along with its head office and CEO, simplifies the $170 bln oil major’s structure. It also makes it easier to reorganise for the energy transition. The implied snub to the Dutch court which ordered Shell to cut emissions is an added bonus.
Royal Dutch Shell said on Nov. 15 it would seek shareholder approval to change its corporate structure in order to unify its two classes of shares. The company will also shift its tax residence to the United Kingdom.Shell is currently incorporated in the UK but has Dutch tax residence and a dual-class share structure. It adopted that approach in 2005 after combining Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij and The Shell Transport and Trading Company under a single parent company.Shell said a unified share structure would allow it to compete more effectively by allowing for an acceleration of share buybacks, as there will be a larger single pool of ordinary shares that can be bought back.
Shell to ditch ‘Royal Dutch’ name and dual-share structure amid activist pressure
Royal Dutch Shell will dump its dual-share structure, change its name, and move its tax residence from the Netherlands to the UK.
The oil group argues the moves will boost its competitiveness.
It will now offer a single line of shares, which it considers simpler for investors to understand and value.
Alongside moving its tax residence, Shell will establish its CEO, CFO and board meetings in the country.
: I recently moved from a home where I was a Shell Energy customer, to a home that is also supplied by Shell Energy. After 5+ calls and emails promising me my account and most importantly, my tariff, would be carried over, they have failed to do so and they are now ignoring my emails. Their customer service is absolutely diabolical.
: Firstly i have no problem with the broadband quality and general customer service but i have just had a horrendous experience trying to cancel my contract in favour of virgin. i made it very very very clear i just wanted to cancel but the bloke insisted endlessly on try to persuade me otherwise to the point where i was getting proper stressed out. i won't ever go back to Shell
: Where do I start ... AGAIN! Just received ANOTHER message from you regarding my account! Advising me to contact debt management company!. I am, as I keep TRYING to tell you, I'm on Universal Credit but, at the moment I've been sanctioned until the end of July, and also have a hardship fund payment of £*** which I have to pay back until next February! I have no money for all my usual bills off-line this one, so maybe YOU can tell me how I'm supposed to pay this bill with no money! I can't even afford to buy food to last me a month. I have NO MONEY! If Green Star Energy I ad sorted out this problem in the 1st place, I wouldn't be in this mess! Unfortunately I don't have a money tree in my garden, not do I have a money making machine. I'm as poor as a church mouse! I haven't had enough money for 3 years now! Is anyone else having problems with this company? I'll say no more!
: Was with the Post Office broadband until Shell took over. Was emailed to activate my account which I did , WiFi went off. Called several times was kept waiting for someone to answer, must now total 4 hours +. Eventually Ayisha answered must be a fault on the line from the exchange. Then router not recognised! Engineer appointment was made for 31/5/22 — 8am till 1 pm No show. Rang again why no show..Naeem says I’ll transfw you to the technical team ..was cut off. Emailed customer help, reply line is ok , reset your router with a pin, check your wires are fully in the plug. Pat, said she will contact outreach either Tuesday or Wednesday. Meanwhile I’m without WiFi? What’s occurring Shell?
: The Offshore Alliance and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) have both served Shell with formal notice that industrial action will commence on the Prelude FLNG facility on 10 June.
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I've had an utter nightmare with Shell. After I inherited my fathers house in Jan they have been nothing but trouble.
I called them within a week of the house being put in my name and told them I do not live near the house and to put the account in my name and send any bills to my address. I made it very clear that I would be paying any bills, was happy to do so, and where to send them. Fast forward to early April, we visit the house to find bill after bill addressed "to the occupier".
Again I got in touch right away and told them the NEED to put the account in my name as I won't be visiting the house again as it was set to sell at the end of April. I spoke to a representative who said "No worries, just call us when the house sells and we will settle the account". I did just that and paid them. However I've checked my credit score and have multiple negatives which are now preventing me getting a mortgage. As if dealing with the death of a parent isn't difficult enough Shell have now prevented me getting a mortgage for the next 7 years!!
: Awful customer service that won't talk about your complaint. I have never come across such an evasive company before. Can't wait to change provider!
: Smart meter fitted which fail to register and Shell just estimate bills which overcharge me and in this time of crisis I can do without the grief. The app is useless and keeps failing and you have to log in through the website. Good you may think but no, get regular massages advising data like account information is unavailable. Ofgen transfered me to this company last year when the company I was with went south, maybe they need to look at the suppliers and see if they can indeed look after customers or if they are just profiteering from the energy crisis. I would never recommend them to anybody and cant wait for the day that I can transfer to another supplier.
: App is rubbish. Never loads the actual usage. Fails to upload details from my smart meter - gas and electricity. Never shows statements. Deleted and reinstalled the app. No joy. Very poor. My smart meter mini display is fab - app rubbish
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Worst Company EverI used to be with Post Office broadband, had the unfortunate situation to be sold to Shell, mucked up everything about swapping over, meant to have caller Id for personal reasons did not happen, another muck up cannot get through to customer lack of service had to cancel DD to hopefully get resolution but will impact my credit rating, do not use this company awful.
Thank you for your reply but I am not prepared to wait the usual 50 minutes to try to get through to your customer line, sure it helps your profits.
I have to work to pay my bills and calling during work hours is not appropriate, to prove your excellent customer service, tongue in cheek sort my caller Id within 24 hours lol, also guarantee no interruption in service and my credit rating won’t be impacted I might change my mind
: Even more bad service
After leaving a previous negative review about how bad shell energy is Shell replied asking for my account number so that they could investigate..so l did provide it however l haven't heard a thing from them. This was a number of months ago and yet again another example of how poor Shell is. Absolutely shocking service.
: Bereavement rip off
Shell Broadband charged me £108 to cancel when my mum died because the account was in my name. Then they kept adding more charges even though their email said no extra fees would be added. 1hr 32mins to cancel the service & passed to 4 different departments - it was as if no one had ever been bereaved before. Then no reply to my email via their online help, followed by over 1 hr on their online chat. I would avoid Shell Broadband.
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