On Wednesday, Royal Dutch Shell said it will buy BG Group for $69.6 billion in cash and stock, in the first major oil merger in a decade. The deal represents a 50 percent premium on BG shares, and while it won't rocket the Anglo-Dutch company past the world's biggest oil company, ExxonMobil, it will make Shell the world's top producer of liquified natural gas, according to Shell CEO Ben ban Buerden.
Specifically, BG will boost Shell's proved oil and gas reserves by 25 percent, and Shell will have access to BG's Santos Basin offshore oil fields in Brazil, plus natural gas assets in East Africa and Australia. Shell says it expects the deal to close in early 2016.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What will be Warren Buffett's legacy?Talking Points Observers call him 'the greatest investor of all time.'
-
Art review: "Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes From Art"Feature At the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, through Aug. 17
-
What are certificates of deposit and how do they work?The Explainer CDs may be the right solution for your savings goals
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff displaySpeed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
Getty Images and Shutterstock merge into a picture powerhouse to combat AIThe Explainer The $3.7 billion deal is one of the largest in the industry's history
