Shell Sells 185 Service Stations for Undisclosed Sum

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) said Monday it has accepted offers for the sale of 185 owned service stations to selected independent dealers for undisclosed sums, and exchanged contracts for 158 of them.

The oil major, which last week announced plans to by natural gas firm BG Group PLC (BG.LN), said the 185 service stations are spread across Great Britain and will retain the Shell brand. Dealers will continue to sell Shell's fuels for at least the first five years following the sale, it added.

Handover of the 158 stations that have exchanged contracts to the new owners will be completed by the end of 2015. Shell said it expects contracts for the remaining service stations to be exchanged in the coming weeks.

The sale of the 185 Shell service stations marks the end of a commercial process, which began in September 2014, following the strategic decision to reduce the number of Shell company-owned service stations to around 550 and expand the dealer network, the company said.

B shares in London at 1010 GMT up 10 pence, or 0.49%, at 2058 pence valuing the company at 130.37 billion pounds ($194.61 billion).