...Negative Rating Watch On: Fitch Ratings placed Royal Dutch/Shell Group's and Royal Dutch Shell plc's (together Shell) ratings on Rating Watch Negative (RWN) in April 2105 following the announcement that its acquisition of BG Energy Holdings Ltd. (BG, A-/RWP) had been agreed by the boards of both companies. The deal's total consideration is nearly USD70bn, of which around USD20bn is in cash. The acquisition is pending approval from both companies' shareholders and various authorities. Shell's Leverage to Increase: We expect a moderate deterioration in Shell's financial profile following the deal with funds from operations (FFO) adjusted net leverage increasing from 1.5x at end-2014 to around 2x in 2015-2017, based on conservative assumptions around the announced USD30bn divestment programme and share buybacks from 2017. We plan to obtain more clarity on the deal and Shell's actions to restore its credit metrics later this year. Enhanced Business Profile: In 2014 Shell produced 2.27 million...
