Singapore — Shell Energy Australia, a subsidiary of oil major Royal Dutch Shell, Thursday said it made an offer to purchase all the shares of Australian electricity retailer ERM Power for A$617 million ($417.2 million), minus dividend adjustments.
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Register NowThe move underscores growing investments by global oil and gas companies into power and alternative energy markets in line with long-term strategy to diversify from the oil business. Shell previously said it plans to become the world's largest electricity company by the next decade.
ERM is the second-largest energy retailer by load in Australia, and also produces electricity at two gas-fired power plants in Oakey, Queensland, and Neerabup, Western Australia, Shell said in a statement. "Gas-fired generation will play an important role in Australia's transition to renewables," it added.
Shell is a key natural gas producer in Australia, and it recently started up its Prelude FLNG offshore plant that was one of the world's most anticipated LNG exporting projects and the largest floating vessel.
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Investments in gas-fired electricity give the energy company a downstream outlet for its gas production.
"This acquisition aligns with Shell's global ambition to expand our integrated power business and builds on Shell Energy Australia's existing gas marketing and trading capability," Shell Australia's country chair Zoe Yujnovich said.
Yujnovich said ERM will become the company's core power and energy solutions platform and its acquisition was key to growing Shell's integrated power business in Australia.
"The acquisition has received Foreign Investment Review Board and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approvals and Shell's offer is subject to court approval as well as ERM shareholder approval," Shell said.
It expects to complete the acquisition before the end of 2019.
Shell said Australia is one of the core identified markets for its "Emerging Power" investments like renewables. The other markets are Northwest Europe and the US.
EU targets for % of low-emission new public buses*
| Country | By end-2025 | By end-2030 | Country | By end-2025 | By end-2030 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 45 | 65 | Italy | 45 | 65 | |
| Belgium | 45 | 65 | Latvia | 35 | 50 | |
| Bulgaria | 34 | 48 | Lithuania | 42 | 60 | |
| Croatia | 27 | 38 | Luxembourg | 45 | 65 | |
| Cyprus | 45 | 65 | Malta | 45 | 65 | |
| Czech Republic | 41 | 60 | The Netherlands | 45 | 65 | |
| Denmark | 45 | 65 | Poland | 32 | 46 | |
| Estonia | 31 | 43 | Portugal | 35 | 51 | |
| Finland | 41 | 59 | Romania | 24 | 33 | |
| France | 43 | 61 | Slovakia | 34 | 48 | |
| Germany | 45 | 65 | Slovenia | 28 | 40 | |
| Greece | 33 | 47 | Spain | 45 | 65 | |
| Hungary | 37 | 53 | Sweden | 45 | 65 | |
| Ireland | 45 | 65 | UK | 45 | 65 |
* Half of the minimum target must be fulfilled with zero-emission -- most likely electric -- buses. This is lowered to 25% of the minimum end-2025 target if more than 80% of the new buses are double-decker.
Source: 2019 EU clean vehicles directive
-- Eric Yep, eric.yep@spglobal.com
-- Edited by Norazlina Jumaat, norazlina.jumaat@spglobal.com