Slaughter and May advised Shell on its acquisition of ARC resources

Slaughter and May advised Shell on its acquisition of ARC Resources Ltd. (ARC), a Canadian energy company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which completed on 2 September 2026. 

The acquisition, first announced on 27 April 2026, was implemented by means of a Canadian plan of arrangement under which ARC’s shareholders received CAD 8.20 in cash and 0.40247 ordinary shares of Shell plc for each ARC share. This equates to an equity value of ARC of approximately US$13.9bn. Shell will take on approximately US$2.5bn in net debt and leases resulting in an enterprise value of ARC of approximately US$16.5bn. Completion follows receipt of ARC shareholder, court and regulatory approvals. 

ARC’s operations are focused on the Montney shale basin in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada where it has approximately 2 billion barrels (boe) of reserves and 370kboe/d of production. 

Slaughter and May advised Shell alongside Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (Canada) and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (USA), and worked closely with members of Shell’s in-house legal team based in London, Houston and Calgary.