Dec 16 (Reuters) - Shell's chief of mergers Greg Gut left the oil and gas major after Chief Executive Wael Sawan and other top executives blocked an internal proposal to buy rival BP earlier this year, the Financial Times said on Tuesday.
Gut, who worked at Shell and associated entities for over two decades, did not address the FT story when contacted by Reuters. He confirmed he left Shell in September, adding that he had "thoroughly enjoyed" working with Sawan, finance chief Sinead Gorman and others at the company.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the FT reported that Gut and the M&A team pushed for the BP deal. Chair Andrew Mackenzie was said to be interested, it said, but not Sawan and Gorman.
The CEO and CFO felt a deal of that size created challenges that could derail Shell's strategy, the newspaper added, and said Gut had left the group before it categorically denied in June media reports of its interest in BP.
Shell said at the time that, under British rules, the public statement that it was not considering buying BP barred it from bidding on the company for a period of six months.
CEO Sawan has repeatedly said buying back Shell shares was a better use of money when asked about a potential bid for BP, whose stock has markedly underperformed peers since 2020, when its pivot to renewable energy left it lagging.
Tuesday's report said Sawan's opposition suggested the company was unlikely to pursue a deal for BP when the curbs on its ability to bid lift on December 26.
"We have previously made a clear statement on this matter, and we have nothing to add to it," a Shell spokesperson said.
(Reporting by Prerna Bedi and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Angela Christy; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Sonia Cheema and Clarence Fernandez and Joe Bavier)
