(Adds shareholder, chairman reactions)
By Karolin Schaps
LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - BG Chief Executive HelgeLund on Tuesday welcomed with "mixed emotions" Royal DutchShell's $70 billion takeover bid, which came only twomonths after he took office.
Speaking at BG's annual general meeting in Reading, England,the former Statoil boss said there is still much to dobefore the transaction can complete but that Shell's bid, at a50 percent premium to BG's share price on April 7, maximisesBG's value while removing potential risks.
"This is a strong deal for our shareholders," he said.
"That said, you will understand that, from a leadershipperspective, I do have slightly mixed emotions as I was lookingforward to taking BG forward and a takeover was certainly not inmy mind when I joined the company."
Lund took office on Feb. 9, nearly a month earlier thaninitially planned, with a mandate to turn BG around after astring of profit warnings and delays on major projects.
Lund is not expected to remain at BG once the takeovercompletes, but his total pay could top 32 million pounds ($47.8million) if the deal goes ahead, a Reuters analysis of corporatefilings showed last month.
BG shareholders showed their discontent about the prospectof such a high payout, with 18 percent of them rejecting thecompany's remuneration report at Tuesday's meeting.
"This really represents an outrageous sum in the currentclimate," shareholder Mark Bentley said.
He demanded an apology from BG's remuneration committee,headed by former Oxford University vice-chancellor John Hood,drawing applause from many of the shareholders present.
Nearly 14 percent of shareholders also voted against Hood'sre-election.
"If we misjudged something, we misjudged the publicreaction," BG Chairman Andrew Gould said.
Lund's initial pay package had already been a subject ofmuch debate after his recruitment from Statoil, prompting thecompany to reduce it by millions of pounds.
Shell's takeover offer, first raised in a mid-March phonecall between Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and BG Chairman AndrewGould, was announced on April 7.
(Writing by Ron Bousso; Editing by David Goodman)
