Shell receives EUR464m bid from DCC for LPG business

Oil giant Shell is in exclusive talks with support services group DCC to sell its Butagaz liquefied petroleum gas business in France.

Shell received a €464m (£332m) binding offer from DCC and is discussing the bid with staff at Butagaz and Shell France.

"The transaction is consistent with Shell's strategy to concentrate its downstream footprint on a smaller number of assets and markets where it can be most competitive, and is part of an ongoing exit from the LPG business globally," Shell said.

DCC said the proposed deal would make it Europe's third-largest LPG distributor. It would be the group’s largest acquisition and follows the purchase of BP and Statoil’s LPG businesses.

Shell's has been divesting in a number of downstream assets including Norwegian and British retail businesses and refineries in Britain, Germany, France, Norway and the Czech Republic.