(MergerMarket)
No major complications are expected from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) to the proposed acquisition by Royal Dutch Shell [LON:RDSA] of BG Group [LON: BG], it was said.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it would not oppose the proposed acquisition, leaving FIRB and China’s MOFCOM as the last remaining regulatory hurdles.
Following clearances in Brazil and the EU, three of the five pre-conditions to the combination have now been satisfied.
In its statement, Shell said the filing process in China continues to progress well and the combination remains on track for completion in early 2016.
FIRB typically waits for an ACCC decision before starting its process, which can take up to 30 days. Shell has been in dialogue with FIRB and it was said that FIRB’s process can be expected to kick off soon and complete before Christmas.
The CEO of the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA), Phillip Barresi, has said that the association is not going to raise any issues regarding the merger with FIRB. The EUAA made two submissions to the ACCC calling for behavioural undertakings to accompany any structural undertakings.
The EUAA considers itself the main lobby group representing energy users and the only one entirely focused around energy issues. EUAA lists 67 members, including Australia’s largest groups such as Rio Tinto [LON/ASX:RIO], Bluescope [ASX:BSL], Glencore [LON:GLEN], Incitec Pivot [ASX:IPL] and Wesfarmers.
Other energy user industry groups - Manufacturing Australia and Major Energy Users (MEU) – had submitted concerns to the ACCC that the proposed takeover will reduce competition in the Australian East Coast gas market but did not make a fresh submission after the ACCC issued its Statement of Issues (SOI) in September.
Shell declined to comment when contacted by this news service.