Shell to Acquire Interest in U.S. Solar Business

HOUSTON, Jan. 15, 2018 -- Shell announced today it has signed an agreement to acquire a 43.83% interest in U.S. solar company Silicon Ranch Corporation (Silicon Ranch) from funds managed and/or advised by Partners Group. Consideration for the shares is between $193 and $217 million contingent on Silicon Ranch achieving predetermined milestones. A separate agreement with Silicon Ranch will give Shell the possibility to increase its ownership after 2021. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in Q1 2018.

"Partnering with Silicon Ranch Corporation progresses our New Energies strategy and provides our U.S. customers with additional solar renewable options," said Marc van Gerven, Shell Vice President of Solar. "With this entry into the fast-growing solar sector, Shell is able to leverage its expertise as one of the top three wholesale power sellers in the U.S, while expanding its global New Energies footprint."

This investment is part of Shell's New Energies power portfolio, which prioritizes low carbon generation and storage. Shell's interest in Silicon Ranch includes an existing portfolio of approximately 880 megawatts of projects in operation or contracted.

Notes to editors

Silicon Ranch Corporation is a Nashville, Tennessee based developer, owner, and operator of solar energy plants in the United States. Silicon Ranch has a project and development funnel portfolio of approximately 1.9 gigawatt of capacity
Partners Group is a global private markets investment manager headquartered in Baar-Zug, Switzerland.

Cautionary note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this press release "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this press release refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to "joint ventures" and "joint operations" respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov ). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this press release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, January 15, 2018. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this press release that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shell-to-acquire-interest-in-us-solar-business-300582533.html

SOURCE Shell

CONTACT: Media Relations, International: +44 207 934 5550, US: +1 832 337 4355 or Investor Relations, International: +31 70 377 4540, North America: +1 832 337 2034