Shell completes 4.1bn dollar Repsol LNG deal at lower price

Royal Dutch Shell has completed the purchase of 4.1bn dollars of liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets from Spanish rival Repsol at a better price than previously announced. Shell is now expected to pay a net cash purchase price of $3.8bn, lower than the $4.4bn announced in February last year due to certain "value adjustments" contained in the terms of the sale.As part of the transaction, the FTSE 100 company will assume balance sheet liabilities of $1.6bn, down from the $1.8bn anticipated at the initial announcement.The company said these liabilities related to existing leases for LNG ship charters, "substantially increasing the shipping capacity available to Shell's world-class LNG marketing business".The deal adds 7.2m tonnes per annum (mtpa) of directly managed LNG volumes with long term off-take agreements and immediately contributes cash flow with little requirement for ongoing capital expenditure.The new assets, which includes LNG supply from Trinidad & Tobago and Peru, will increase the company's equity LNG capacity by around 20% to 26 mtpa, with a net 4.2 mtpa of plant capacity.Shell's capital investment in the fourth quarter of 2013 will reflect $3.4bn for this transaction, with the remaining $2bn booked in 2014.OH