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* Fees could be eighth biggest ever from M&A deal
* Three institutions expected to share $183 mln in fees
* Shell contacting further banks on bridge loan (Recasts, adds fee estimates)
By Freya Berry and Sinead Cruise
LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Fees from Royal Dutch Shell's $70 billion takeover of British energy firm BG could be among the top 10 most lucrative transactions on record,according to estimates from Thomson Reuters and FreemanConsulting.
Shell's cash and share offer, recommended by the board of BGon Wednesday, could earn its three financial advisers a combined$182.6 million in fees, according to the estimates.
That would make the deal the eighth-biggest global payoutfor an M&A transaction. It is the biggest acquisition to beannounced this year.
It is expected that Bank of America Merrill Lynch will earn approximately $82 million advising Shell, whileGoldman Sachs and advisory boutique Robey Warshaw LLPwill earn approximately $50.3 million each for their work for BG.
The largest ever fees from an M&A deal were the $530.7million collected by banks on the acquisition of Mannesmann AGby Vodafone in 1999.
The limited number of advisers on the Shell/BG dealcontrasts with many major deals which have historically involvedat least two and sometimes three or four financial advisers toeach party.
Nine banks shared the spoils when Glencore tookover Xstrata in 2012, while seven are handling the merger ofHolcim and Lafarge and related asset sales.
None of the parties involved has provided details on theirlikely earnings from the BG deal.
To keep talks between Shell and BG confidential, the list ofadvisers was intentionally kept short, one source familiar withthe deal said, even though this meant Bank of America MerrillLynch underwriting Shell's borrowing alone.
Shell is contacting around 20 "relationship banks" to helpput together a further bridge loan, two sources familiar withthe matter said.
Merrill Lynch was already the top bank by fees and marketshare for the energy and power sector in the first quarter of2015, with a 7.9 percent share, according to Thomson Reutersdata. The bank came fourth for global mergers and acquisitionsin terms of fees.
Goldman was at number one, after boosting its fee intake by40 percent against the same period last year.
Investment banking fees for the energy and power sectorreached almost $2.4 billion, the third most lucrative sectorglobally for the quarter.
Robey Warshaw's role deals another blow to majorbulge-bracket banks, coming just weeks after independentinvestment banks Lazard and Centerview Partners LLC sawoff bigger rivals to advise H. J. Heinz and Kraft Foods on a $46 billion merger.
The company began operations just last year under its twostar dealmaker founders -- Simon Robey and his namesake SimonWarshaw.
Dealmakers across the City are now expected to try to flushout possible counter bidders to defend their positions in theleague tables, which help companies select which banks andadvisers they want to spearhead takeovers and share offerings.
"BG has long been mooted as a potential target for a numberof predators. It is not inconceivable that this deal flushes outa counter offer for BG," one of BG's 15 largest investors toldReuters. (Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia and Sophie Sassard;Editing by Keith Weir)
