Shell plans auction of liquefied petroleum gas unit

LONDON (AFP) - Royal Dutch/Shell plans to auction off its liquefied petroleum gas business, which is valued at more than one billion pounds.
A consortium made up of private equity funds Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is already lining up a bid for the business, the Financial Times (FT) newspaper said Tuesday, without naming its sources.
The FT said the Anglo-Dutch oil giant had mandated US banking giant Citigroup to sell the LPG business and was expected to send an information memorandum on the business to prospective buyers in January.
The report said the sale of the LPG unit is part of a 10-12 billion pound asset disposal program implemented by Shell in the wake of its reserves overbooking scandal.
The FT said the Goldman Sachs/KKR consortium was expected to be an early bidder when the LPG auction kicks off, but noted the sale was likely to attract other equity partners.
Shell, which said last month it had already been approached by an unnamed bidder for the LPG business, declined to comment on the sale process.