Completely O/T; Any British Gas shareholders out there?

[jonny777]

My parents bought British Gas shares many decades ago under the Thatcher privatisation era, and although my mother passed away 25 years ago, my father must still own the shares. However, he is 93 with very poor eyesight and even poorer memory and lives 250 miles away from me.

 

I gather BG was taken over by Royal Dutch Shell about 18 months ago, but I don't know what that means for ex-BG shareholders.

 

I was hoping that there might be a BG shareholder here who has read all the official letters and has been through the process. My father has a shredder and as a habit of using it for even the most important of documents, despite my protests.

 

He has been contacted by a company called Pro Search Asset Solutions who insist they can handle his shareholding, but from a forum on the internet I gather their 'admin' costs plus VAT add up in most cases to a similar amount of money to the original shareholding. They are not doing anything illegal, but they are charging large amounts which appear in tiny print somewhere on their literature.

 

I do now have financial Power Of Attorney over his affairs, so would like to apply to someone to have all correspondence concerning his share portfolio sent to me; so that I can discover what is actually going on.

 

Did ex-BG shareholders get Shell shares, or did they get a cash amount when Shell ook over BG? Does anyone know?

[NorthBrit]

Hi Jonny777   British Gas is owned by Centrica plc and is a British multinational utility company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire.  

 

Many people now wish to sell their shares and companies like Pro Search Asset Solutions have stepped in to 'assist' in such sales.  They are not doing anything illegal, but are not doing it for free.

 

If your father still has shares in BG/Centrica he should be receiving a dividend (cheque or into his bank direct) annually, half yearly or quarterly.

 

What I suggest you do is contact Centrica and find out   a) How many shares your father has?  b)  If he still has them, how is the dividend being paid?  c)  If he has shares, not to sell them especially through a company like Pro Search Asset Solutions.

 

Once you have found those answers  (and he has shares or not), keep a tight reign on the finances. 

 

I had a similar occurrence with my in-laws shares (although not British Gas).

 

I hope that helps

[APOLLO]

Quite a tale with British Gas shares - privatised in 1986.

 

Basically the shares and company split several times over the years, as this diagram shows.

 

https://www.centrica.com/sites/default/files/investors/demerger_infographic_april_2017_1024_x_400.jpg

 

 

The Shell / BG takeover was a bit complicated. BG shareholders had a choice of Shell A shares (dividends paid in Euros & Dutch tax payable) or (as most UK shareholders did) Shell B shares (dividends paid in £ and UK tax rules apply). A BG shareholder got shell shares (either A or B as requested) and some money. The money depended on a further choice the shareholder made regarding re-investing this money in shares, so several options were to be decided at the time (early last year 2016).

 

Further info 

 

Here are the key deal terms and conditions:

• 0.4454 Shell B shares and 383p in cash per BG share
  • Represents a value per BG ordinary share of 1350p, a premium of 52%
  • Values BG equity at £47.0 billion3
  • BG shareholders to own 19% of Shell
• Equity increase:
  • 1,532 million new B shares
  • Election option for A shares
• ‘Mix and match’ election between cash and shares

 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-08/shell-bg-megadeal-all-you-need-know-and-why-initial-response-not-enthusiastic

 

Shell investors website page

 

http://www.shell.com/investors.html#iframe=L1NvbHV0aW9ucy9TaGVsbC8yMDg4L21pbmlxdW90ZTIuYXNweA==

 

Share Registrars contact - (for individual share information)

 

http://www.shell.com/investors/retail-shareholder-information/retail-shareholder-enquiries.html

 

http://www.shareview.co.uk/4/Info/Portfolio/Default/en/Home/Pages/Home.aspx

 

I suggest you contact the above share registrar (shareview) for the info you need. Hope this is of help.

 

Edited to add - I think THIS is the site you need to visit

 

http://www.shareview.co.uk/4/Info/Portfolio/Default/en/Home/Shareholders/Pages/ManageEstate.aspx

 

Brit15

Edited June 13, 2017 by APOLLO

[jonny777]

Thanks very much to you both for that detailed information. It is most useful.

 

It would seem that the situation is more complex than I first thought. I phoned Shareview and they said if he bought the original Br Gas shares, he would now have shares in all three of Shell, Centrica nd National Grid. 

 

I shall not be taking up the ProSearch expensive offer, as I have traded shares in the past and the usual commission is far less than 12.5% + VAT.  For instance, Barclays quote £65 on trades of £3000 (which is an amount that he appears to think they were worth when he used to check newspaper prices).

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

.... My father has a shredder and as a habit of using it for even the most important of documents, ...I do now have financial Power Of Attorney over his affairs,

 Side note to anyone with elderly they care for to any extent: the last  two years have decided me that it is no deprivation of lberty to either remove or render non-functional a shredder in the home of anyone 85+ years old. It's the equivalent action to not leaving a small child with access to brightly coloured pills in a packet he can reach.

 

These machines seem to have a magnetic attraction for older men in particular. In the worst case (friends, so not directly responsible thankfully) he trashed much significant documentation, credit cards etc, and by the time the shredder caught fire(!) and smoke damaged his study and much else in the house, he had also the local authority recycling collection stopped, because there was non-recycleable plastic intimately mixed with the paper. Of course he had shredded the letter from the council telling him about that too...