Shell sells stake in Woodside for around $3.3B

Royal Dutch Shell PLC says its Australian subsidiary will sell a 10% stake in Perth-based gas and oil producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd., to Swiss bank UBS AG, for around $3.33 billion.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC says its Australian subsidiary will sell a 10% stake in Perth-based gas and oil producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd., to Swiss bank UBS AG, for around $3.33 billion.

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Shell's sale of 78.34 million shares to UBS at A$42.23 is a discount to Woodside most recent closing price of A$45.86 per share. Shell said the move was natural, given its recent $3.05 billion joint purchase with PetroChina of Australia's Arrow Energy, a maker of coal bed methane.

Voser said Shell was selling its stake in Woodside because it prefers "direct interest in assets and joint ventures, rather than indirect stakes."

Shell will still have 24.27% of Woodside, which it will also eventually sell.