The Acquisition of the Publicly-Held Shares of Shell Canada Limited

David Brinley, Vice President and General Counsel, Shell Canada Limited, Canada

The acquisition by affiliates of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“RDS”) of the publicly-held shares of Shell Canada Limited (“Shell Canada”) was one of the major transactions in the oil and gas sector in 2007. Whilst not a merger or acquisition in the “traditional” sense, the existing majority interest held by RDS in Shell Canada raised a number of legal and practical considerations. This article examines the key aspects of the transaction from the point of view of RDS and Shell Canada.

Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemicals companies, with around 101,000 employees in more than 90 countries and territories.