Royal Dutch Shell plans to ditch its dual share structure and move its tax residence from the Netherlands to the UK, in moves the oil group says will strengthen its competitiveness.
The overhaul of the Anglo-Dutch group’s structure comes less than a month after the Wall Street activist investor Third Point announced a stake in the company and pushed for changes.
Shell said on Monday that the changes would “increase the speed and flexibility of capital and portfolio actions”.
It added: “The simplification is designed to strengthen Shell’s competitiveness and accelerate both shareholder distributions and the delivery of its strategy to become a net zero emissions business.”
Under the plans, Shell’s chief executive and chief financial officer will be based in the UK, where the company will also hold its board and executive committee meetings.
The company will still be listed in Amsterdam, London and New York, but will drop the words “Royal Dutch” from its name.
Third Point, which is run by Dan Loeb, had called for a break-up of the company, saying it had an “incoherent, conflicting set of strategies”.