Ben Levisohn has written an article for Barron’s stoking up further the persistent speculation about the prospect of a takeover bid for BP. He quotes from an expert assessment by Oppenheimer analysts Fadel Gheit and Luis Amadeo and points out that although they do not name names, the timing is right and the obvious contenders are Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Total. A merger between BP and any one of these rivals would create the worlds biggest oil producer.
Mega-Mergers
BP a takeover target
Oil majors BP and Shell may be ready for more mergers
Some of Shell’s big shareholders are said to be frustrated by the company’s continued spending on expensive far-flung projects that fail to yield healthy returns. Alongside its profit warning at the start of this year, Shell announced that it was halting a controversial exploration programme off the coast of Alaska because the costs had far outweighed the results. Some $4.5bn had been ploughed into exploring in the region since 2005. Rumours continue to swirl that an activist investor is circling Shell with a view to taking a stake and forcing it adopt a more radical strategy.
Shell BP Mega-Merger?
By John Donovan
Copy of a self-explanatory email sent this morning to Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
EMAIL TO BRANDJES
From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: Royal Dutch Shell BP Merger
Date: 29 May 2014 09:16:48 BST
To: [email protected]
Dear Mr Brandjes
I have received from multiple sources reports of negotiations/discussions involving Shell and BP.
I intend to publish the draft article below authored by one extremely well informed source. That fact is self-evident.
Shell considered buying BP: paper
FRANKFURT | Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:50pm EST
(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) considered making a bid for rival BP (BP.L) in the past two years, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said in an advance copy of its Saturday edition.
Chief Executive Peter Voser told the paper, “I can’t imagine that there is anybody in our industry who did not look into this scenario. At the end of the day we are all businesspeople.”
Upon being asked whether Shell was currently interested in BP, Voser told the paper: “No comment.”
Exxon and Shell considering opportunistic bids for BP
In an articled published today by The Sunday Times (Page 8 of Business Section), Danny Fortson has revealed that according to senior bankers, Exxon Mobil and Shell are both considering opportunistic bids for BP.
The two thirds of a page article is published under the headline “Is the sun setting on BP?” and argues that BP is “vulnerable” as a result of a downsizing policy by BP’s Chief Executive.
Danny Fortson warns: “Bod Dudley may be playing a dangerous game. Shrinking the oil giant will make it more attractive to rivals…”
Slick Shell leaves BP in slipstream
Shell remains interested in a merger if the terms and conditions are right…
Oil battle: The Gulf of Mexico crisis has proved disastrous for BP’s shares, while Shell’s have soaredBy Hugo Duncan
Last updated at 10:42 PM on 28th April 2011
In the battle of the UK super majors, the first leg of 2011 belongs to Shell by a considerable margin, said Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, yesterday.
It is easy to see why. While BP is plagued by the toxic legacy of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and troubles in Russia, Royal Dutch Shell powers on.
Shell put its beleaguered arch-rival firmly in the shade yesterday with a 41 per cent rise in first quarter profits to £4.1billion. Just 24 hours earlier, BP revealed that its profits for the period dropped 2 per cent to £3.3billion. And that is not all.
Slick BP could attract a bid from Shell after asset sales
Disaster recovery
By Rob Davies
Last updated at 1:13 AM on 15th December 2010
BP was the strongest blue-chip riser on the Footsie as talk of a bid in the new year from Royal Dutch Shell resurfaced and the firm raked in nearly £500m by selling assets in Pakistan.
Trading in BP reached frenzied levels – boosting its shares by 14.75p to 473.1p – amid positive broker sentiment and fresh speculation that Shell or US rival Exxon Mobil could revive their interest in a bid during 2011.
BP’s share price languished as low as 304.6p following April’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, sparking talk that several rivals were drawing up plans for an opportunistic bid.
BP ‘missed the boat’ on Shell mega-merger, reveals Browne
BP board in Williamsburg squashed proposals in 2004
Ex chief claims merger could have been worth $9bn a year
Tie-up with Yukos rejected after ‘untoward’ encounter with Khodorkovsky
Terry Macalister
Friday 5 February 2010 16.24 GMT
Lord Browne claims the merger proposals had the support of his team, which would have included current BP chief executive Tony Hayward (above) who was then head of exploration. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
Lord Browne took BP to the brink of a mega-merger with Royal Dutch Shell six years ago only to be thwarted at the last minute by opposition from a handful of his own board members, the former chief executive has claimed.
“We missed the boat” argues Browne in his autobiography, which is published on Monday.
Should BP and Shell face the future together?
BP, Oil Stocks May Need Mega Mergers to Advance: Chart of Day
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Only mergers between peers may lift shares of the worlds largest oil companies any time soon, according to Fadel Gheit, Oppenheimer & Co.s managing director of oil and gas research.
Oil majors mull mega-mergers as they eye minors
LONDON (Reuters) - Some of the world's biggest oil companies have shown renewed interest in merging with rival majors during talks about buying smaller producers to increase their reserves, a banker close to the discussions said.
Conditions ripe for a reshuffle of energy sector pack
A "mega-merger", between BP and Royal Dutch Shell, for example, would be a phenomenally complex transaction, creating a company with almost 200,000 employees and rousing huge political and antitrust concerns.