Royal Dutch's un-Dutchness

27 October 2004 By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

Only a sixth of the company is owned by the Dutch. When you look at the combined Royal Dutch/Shell, that falls to a mere 10%. This ironically may be a reason why the Dutch are reluctant to merge the two groups. But it is really a reason why they should.

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Dutch shareholders own only about 17% of Royal Dutch, an internal analysis has discovered. Looking at the entire Royal Dutch/Shell group, that falls to 10%, breakingviews has learned.

The oil giant has conducted the analysis as part of its corporate governance review.

Royal Dutch/Shell gives some information on its shareholders' nationalities in its annual report. But it hasn't split out the Dutch which have hitherto been included with the rest of continental Europe.

The analysis also for the first time breaks down UK investors into two groups genuinely UK investors and US funds based in the UK. The first group own 80% of Shell; the second group own 20%.

Royal Dutch is the Dutch arm of the AngloDutch giant, and owns 60% of the combined entity. Shell, the UK arm, owns the balance.

The economic ownership of the combined group by nationality can be broken down as follows: UK – 33%; Continental Europe exHolland – 31%; US – 26%; Holland – 10%.

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