Shell retail deal in final stages

Infratil and New Zealand Superannuation Fund are in the final stages of a deal to buy Shell’s fuel retailing business in New Zealand, but negotiations are taking longer than originally expected. Former BP executive Mike Bennetts was chosen to head the company should the deal go through. “The Shell brand is a great global brand but it doesn’t tie into the Kiwiness we want about this company, so we need a new logo and that needs to be a physical representation on the site as well,” Bennetts said. The mandate was to have a strategy by mid-2010 on how the company should be rebranded and shaped. (December 10, 2009)