Final Australian approval for Shell-BG Group merger

(ShareCast News) - Royal Dutch Shell's proposed combination with BG Group was a step closer on Thursday morning, with approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).The approval followed an unconditional tick from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on 19 November, and brought the total number of pre-conditions met to four.Approval from China's Ministry of Commerce was the only condition that remained.The £43bn combination faced criticism in November, with the Qatar Investment Authority offloading around £1bn in shares in both companies."The addition of BG's integrated gas assets in Australia to Shell's global portfolio is one of the main strategic drivers behind the recommended combination," said Shell CEO Ben van Beurden."The Shell-BG combination is a sign of Shell's confidence in the Australian economy. It is also a springboard to change Shell into a simpler, more progitable and resilient company."Shell said it would undertake a "cooperative compliance approach" to taxation arrangements for QGC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BG.Van Beurden said the company remained on track to complete the merger with BG Group in early 2016.Previously, van Beurden had suggested oil prices would need to rise to $67 per barrel in 2016, $75 in 2017 and $90 by 2018 for the combination to make financial sense.