Shell to sell RM13bil stake in Canadian Natural - sources

(FILES) This file photo taken on January 17, 2014 shows the Shell logo outside a Shell petrol station in central London. British-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell announced on March 9 the sale of 8.5 billion USD (8.1 billion EUR; 7 billion GBP) of oil sands assets in Canada, as well as a new 1.25 million USD investment in the country. / AFP PHOTO / Carl COURT

TORONTO/NEW YORK: Royal Dutch Shell Plc has decided to offload a roughly C$4.1bil (RM13bil) stake in Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNRL) that it acquired as part of a deal to retreat from Canada’s oil sands earlier this year, people familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Shell has been interviewing investment banks to hire a financial adviser for the share sale, four people said in the past week, declining to be named as the discussions are confidential.

The deal could be one of the biggest-ever equity sales in Canada. The largest Canadian equity deal so far was TransCanada Corp’s C$4.4bil offering last year.

Shell declined to comment, and Canadian Natural did not immediately offer a comment.

In March, Shell agreed to sell most of its Canadian oil sands assets for US$8.5bil, in a major strategic pullback from the capital-intensive business. As part of the transaction, Shell acquired about 98 million Canadian Natural shares, or about 8.8% of CNRL’s outstanding shares, which are currently valued at about C$4.1bil.

Shell plans to use the proceeds to help pay down the debt it assumed with the acquisition of British rival BG Group, the people said. - Reuters