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Shell has ended a century of history as a dual-national company by approving a proposal to base itself in London.
During an extraordinary meeting of shareholders in Ahoy in Rotterdam, 99.77% voted in favour of relocating the company’s headquarters. Shell was founded in 1833 as an import-export business of tropical seashells. When it developed into an energy company, Shell Transport and Trading Company merged with Royal Dutch to form the Royal Dutch Shell Group in 1907.
Shell’s board members presented the plan to move to the UK in November. They said the simplification would strengthen Shell’s competitiveness and make share buybacks and paying dividends easier. The decision took the Dutch government by surprise. In a last effort to keep Shell in the Netherlands, caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte tried to lure the company by promising to abolish dividend tax, which does not exist in the UK. The Dutch Lower House rejected the proposal the same day.
It was not the only recent setback for Shell in The Netherlands. Last May, a court in The Hague ruled that Shell should reduce its net emissions of greenhouse gases by 45 per cent by 2030. Shell is appealing against the decision.
Shell’s history is inextricably linked to that of the Netherlands. The formal move confirmed on Friday marks the end of a more than a hundred years of history. The company will most likely lose the title Royal Dutch, even though the Dutch Royal Family is said to be one of its largest private shareholders. The company, previously known as the Dutch Company for the Exploitation of Petroleum Wells in the Dutch East Indies, received the designation on 18 April 1890 from King Willem III. Dutch often referred to the business simply as ‘the Royal’.
On Friday, Chairman Andrew Mackenzie emphasised that the company was not cutting all ties with the Netherlands. The shares will remain listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. At the same time, some business units, such as the technology division, will stay in the Netherlands.
Shell will complete the process of relocation to London in 2022. It is unclear what the departure will mean for its 9,000 employees in the Netherlands; initially, only Shell’s top management will move to London.
