By BENOIT FAUCON and MARGOT PATRICK
September 6, 2007
LONDON — Standard Chartered PLC agreed to buy London-based oil- and gas-finance boutique Harrison Lovegrove & Co. for an undisclosed amount, as the bank moves aggressively into the lucrative mergers-and-acquisitions boom in the oil and gas industry.
Harrison Lovegrove, with operations in London, Moscow, Kuala Lumpur, Perth, Calgary, Houston and Washington, has advised on oil and gas transactions totaling around $20 billion, Standard Chartered said. Its client list includes Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC’s TNK-BP Russian venture, Gaz de France and BHP Billiton, according to its Web site.
Its gross assets at Dec. 31 were around $23 million.
People familiar with the matter said that the initial purchase price is less than $100 million.
Standard Chartered said the purchase adds to its existing oil- and gas-advisory business, giving “significantly greater value to clients in a global sector.”
“We expect to generate significant business growth with the combined business, further adding to an already successful track record in the sector,” said V. Shankar, group head of client relationships at Standard Chartered.
The purchase comes as large oil and gas international companies are increasingly reshuffling their portfolios as rising oil prices drive costs in mature oil regions or smaller refineries, presenting advisory opportunities for banks and boutiques specializing in the sector.
Last month, Shell agreed to sell French refineries and a stake in a Norway oil and gas project for about $2 billion. The announcement came after the Anglo-Dutch oil major, along with Exxon Mobil Corp. unit Esso decided in June to put up for sale a string of assets in the U.K. North Sea.
Write to Benoit Faucon at [email protected] and Margot Patrick at [email protected]
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
