Shell sells 10 percent of Woodside for $3.35 bn

SYDNEY: Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday that it had sold a 10 per cent stake in Australian oil and gas company Woodside Petroleum Ltd. for 3.31 billion Australian dollars ($3.35 billion) in a transaction that sent Woodside shares tumbling.

The Hague-based energy giant had announced the day before that it planned to reduce its stake in the liquid natural gas-focused Australian company to 24.27 percent. Swiss bank UBS had agreed to underwrite the sale of 78.34 million Woodside shares at AU$42.23 each _ a 7.9 percent discount to the company's closing price Monday of AU$45.86 per share.

Shell issued a statement on Tuesday confirming that the sale was completed.

The Australian share market was weaker at the end of morning trading Tuesday, dragged lower by it worst performer Woodside, which lost 5.3 percent to AU$43.43.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 0.5 percent to 4,755 points. ``That Shell is selling out of it is a little bit of a negative in the short-term, but I don't think (so) in the longer term.'' stockbroking firm RBS Morgans director Bill Chatterton said of Woodside's prospects.

Shell CEO Peter Voser said Monday that his company was reducing its stake in Woodside because it prefers ``direct interest in assets and joint ventures, rather than indirect stakes.''

Shell attempted to take over Woodside in 2001, but the deal was blocked by the Australian government on national interest grounds.