Shell plc recommends shareholders reject mini-tender offer by TRC Capital Investment Corporation
Issued: December 8, 2022, London UK
Shell plc ("Company") has been notified of an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer by TRC Capital Investment Corporation ("TRC") to purchase up to 2,000,000 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), or approximately 0.06 percent of the outstanding issued ordinary shares of the Company as at the close of business on December 7, 2022, at a price of $53.25 per ADS in cash. As described by TRC in its offer document, its offer is being made at a 4.52 percent discount to the closing price of $55.77 per ADS on the New York Stock Exchange on November 11, 2022, the last trading day before the offer commenced, and is below the closing price of $56.35 per ADS on the New York Stock Exchange on December 7, 2022.
The Company does not endorse TRC's offer and recommends that ADS holders reject the offer and do not tender their ADSs in response to the offer by TRC. This mini-tender offer is at a price below the closing price for the Company’s ADSs (as of the last trading day prior to the offer) and is subject to numerous conditions. According to TRC's offer document, ADS holders who have already tendered their shares may withdraw their ADSs at any time prior to 12:01 a.m. New York City time, on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, the expiration date set forth in the offer document (unless extended), by written notice described in the offer document. The Company urges ADS holders to obtain current market quotes for their ADSs, to review the conditions to TRC's mini-tender offer, to consult with their brokers or financial advisors and to exercise caution with respect to this mini-tender offer. Shell is in no way associated with TRC, the mini-tender offer or the offer document.
The Company understands that TRC has made many similar, unsolicited mini-tender offers for shares of other companies. Mini-tender offers seek less than 5 percent of a company's outstanding shares, thereby avoiding many disclosure and procedural requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") that apply to offers for more than 5 percent of a company's outstanding shares. As a result, mini-tender offers do not provide investors with the same level of protection as provided by larger tender offers under United States securities laws. The SEC has issued guidance for investors regarding mini-tender offers on its website at www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/minitend.htm. The SEC has cautioned investors that some mini-tender offers "have been increasingly used to catch investors off guard" and that investors "may end up selling their securities at below-market prices."
The Company encourages brokers and dealers, as well as other market participants, to review the SEC's recommendations to broker-dealers when considering dissemination of mini-tender offer information, which can be found on the SEC’s website (see hyperlink at the foot of this document).
The Company requests that a copy of this announcement be included with all distributions of materials relating to TRC's mini-tender offer relating to the Company’s ADSs.
Cautionary Note
The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement “Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Group” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations”, respectively. “Joint ventures” and “joint operations” are collectively referred to as “joint arrangements”. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “aim”, “ambition”, ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, “milestones”, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, judicial, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Shell plc’s Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, December 8, 2022. Neither Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.
Shell’s net carbon footprint
Also, in this announcement we may refer to Shell’s “Net Carbon Footprint” or “Net Carbon Intensity”, which include Shell’s carbon emissions from the production of our energy products, our suppliers’ carbon emissions in supplying energy for that production and our customers’ carbon emissions associated with their use of the energy products we sell. Shell only controls its own emissions. The use of the term Shell’s “Net Carbon Footprint” or “Net Carbon Intensity” are for convenience only and not intended to suggest these emissions are those of Shell plc or its subsidiaries.
Shell’s net-Zero Emissions Target
Shell’s operating plan, outlook and budgets are forecasted for a ten-year period and are updated every year. They reflect the current economic environment and what we can reasonably expect to see over the next ten years. Accordingly, they reflect our Scope 1, Scope 2 and Net Carbon Footprint (NCF) targets over the next ten years. However, Shell’s operating plans cannot reflect our 2050 net-zero emissions target and 2035 NCF target, as these targets are currently outside our planning period. In the future, as society moves towards net-zero emissions, we expect Shell’s operating plans to reflect this movement. However, if society is not net zero in 2050, as of today, there would be significant risk that Shell may not meet this target.
Forward Looking Non-GAAP measures
This announcement may contain certain forward-looking non-GAAP measures. We are unable to provide a reconciliation of these forward-looking Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures because certain information needed to reconcile those Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is dependent on future events some of which are outside the control of Shell, such as oil and gas prices, interest rates and exchange rates. Moreover, estimating such GAAP measures with the required precision necessary to provide a meaningful reconciliation is extremely difficult and could not be accomplished without unreasonable effort. Non-GAAP measures in respect of future periods which cannot be reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measure are calculated in a manner which is consistent with the accounting policies applied in Shell plc’s consolidated financial statements.
The contents of websites referred to in this announcement do not form part of this announcement.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.
Link to SEC’s recommendations to broker dealers: https://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/minitenders/sia072401.htm#:~:text=You%20may%20obtain%20additional%20information%20about%20mini-tender%20offers,your%20shares%20in%20a%20mini-tender%20offer.%20More%20items
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Classification: Additional Regulated Information required to be disclosed under the laws of the United Kingdom
