DHAKA: Royal Dutch Shell has said it will cut 2,800 jobs if its planned takeover of BG Group goes ahead, about 3% of the combined group’s workforce.

The proposed job cuts are in addition to the 7,500 job losses Shell announced in July.

The tie-up between Shell and BG deal is due to be completed early next year.

However, an institutional investor has told the BBC that the deal does not make ‘financial sense’ at current oil price levels.

David Cumming, head of equities at Standard Life Investments, told the BBC it was ‘very difficult to make the deal work’ with oil below $40 a barrel, saying oil prices needed to be $60-$70 a barrel.

Shell announced in April that it had agreed to buy BG, in a deal that valued the oil and gas exploration firm at about £47bn.

In its latest statement, Shell said that the planned job losses were part of ‘operational and administrative restructuring’.

‘Further detailed work will be undertaken on the details of the proposed restructuring as part of ongoing integration planning,’ Shell said.

The final regulatory barrier to the Shell-BG tie-up was cleared on Monday after it was approved by China.

It has already been approved by regulators in Australia, Brazil and the European Union.

Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said the companies would now ‘seek approval from both sets of shareholders as we move towards deal completion in early 2016’.

BDST: 1257 HRS, DEC 15, 2015
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