Qatar - Shell to drop the 'Dutch' from name, end dual share structure

11/15/2021 4:13:27 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to simplify its structure, establishing a single line of shares and moving its tax residence to the UK from the Netherlands.

While such a change had been on the cards for years, the decision comes at a time when relations in its home country have become increasingly fraught. Without warning, Dutch pension fund ABP said last month it would drop Shell -- and all fossil fuels -- from its portfolio, while in May a court ruled the firm must slash its emissions harder and faster than planned.

"The simplification will normalize our share structure under the tax and legal jurisdictions of a single country and make us more competitive,” Chairman Andrew Mackenzie said Monday in a statement. "Shell will be better positioned to seize opportunities and play a leading role in the energy transition.”

Shell has been incorporated in the UK with Dutch tax residence and a dual share structure since the 2005 unification of Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij and Shell Transport & Trading Co. It was not envisaged at the time that the current A/B share structure would be permanent, the company said.

Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden and Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl will relocate to the UK, Mackenzie said in a video.

Shell also said it likely will no longer meet the conditions for using the Royal designation following the proposed changes, and expects to be renamed Shell Plc, subject to shareholder approval.

Investors will be asked to vote on a special resolution to allow the simplification of the company's structure. A general meeting is scheduled to be held in Rotterdam on Dec. 10.

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