Company briefs: Shell; Soilbuild Business Space Reit; Aztech Global

Royal Dutch Shell chief executive officer Ben van Beurden's (photo) pay package fell by 42 per cent to US$7 million (S$9.4 million) in 2020, a year in which the oil major's profit tumbled because of low oil prices and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr van Beurden, who became CEO in 2014, oversaw sharp growth in Shell's oil and gas output following the 2016 acquisition of BG Group. But an unprecedented hit to the energy sector last year knocked oil prices into negative territory, and Shell's profit tumbled to a two-decade low in 2020. In 2019, Mr van Beurden's remuneration had dropped by 51 per cent.

REUTERS

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Soilbuild Business Space Reit

Unit holders of Soilbuild Business Space Reit have voted in favour of a proposed privatisation offer from Blackstone Real Estate and Mr Lim Chap Huat, the executive chair of the real estate investment trust's sponsor Soilbuild Group.

The offer is via a trust scheme of arrangement. This means the outcome is determined by minorities, as Mr Lim and his concert parties abstained from voting.

In an extraordinary general meeting yesterday, unit holders representing some 648.5 million units, or 91.94 per cent, voted in favour of the trust deed amendments related to the offer.

THE BUSINESS TIMES

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Aztech Global

Aztech Global received applications from retail investors for 18.4 times the number of shares available in the public portion of its initial public offering, it said yesterday. With 3.5 million shares available to the public for subscription, it got 4,143 valid applications for about 64.42 million shares, with $82.5 million in application monies received.

The firm, which is in the business of the Internet of Things and data communication, got indications of interest for about 1.06 billion placement shares, with 64.62 million available. Trading of shares is expected to start at 9am today.

THE BUSINESS TIMES