TORONTO, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC is offering to buy out minority shareholders in its Canadian affiliate for some $6.85 billion.
The all-cash offer for the approximately 22 percent of Shell Canada Ltd. that RDS does not own marks an 18-percent premium to Shell Canada's close stock price Friday.
The offer would solidify the Anglo-Dutch energy giant's growing Canadian heavy oil business, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. That's a business that has become increasingly appealing as the price of a barrel of crude oil has risen. RDS's proposal marks yet more evidence that oil majors believe crude oil prices will not return to anywhere near $30 or $40 per barrel.
Completion of the RDS offer depends on more than half of the shares being tendered.
