LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Abdrn investment manager Iain
Pyle said on Thursday he would 'probably' be against a call by
hedge fund Third Point to break up Royal Dutch Shell.
Pyle, whose company is a top-10 investor in Shell according
to Refinitiv data, said while he could understand Third Point's
logic in seeking to unlock value in the company, doing it in
practice would be difficult.
"I probably would be against it," Pyle said. "If it was easy
to do, or even possible, then I'd be more interested. Don't get
me wrong, I definitely see the logic and the appeal of what
Third Point are suggesting because we need to see that hidden
value crystalised somehow."
Breaking up the company would also likely hit the ability of
Shell to provide the full range of services to companies in
other sectors as they transition to a low-carbon economy, he
added.
"There are few companies out there where I would imagine the
divisions are as kind of inter-locked and interwoven as they are
at Shell, because they sit along a value chain and it's
vertically integrated, and taking them out is difficult," he
said.
(Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Rachel Armstrong)