Shell Sale to Gain $2.8 Billion

Royal Dutch/Shell Group has sold the entirety of its shares in China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), cashing out a huge profit accumulated since it amassed the shares during Sinopec's October 2000 listing.

A Shell spokesman said the sale would not alter the business relationship between Shell and Sinopec, which was "well beyond IPO initial public offering support".

Shell was selling 1.85 billion shares at $ 3.125 last night, a 3.84 per cent discount to the $ 3.25 market close. Goldman Sachs was the sole book-runner. Shell could make a profit of as much as $ 2.83 billion.