Royal Dutch Shell PLC set to acquire Post Office broadband arm

PLC () is set to acquire the broadband business of the Post Office as it attempts further to burnish its green credentials.

The acquisition will cost £80mln and add 500,000 customers to Shell Energy’s retail customer base, Sky News reported today.

Like rival BP, Shell is keen to boost its non-fossil fuel earnings to offset an expected long-term decline in the use of oil and gas and to meet increasing sustainability demands of investors.

Last week, Shell announced it is to buy Ubitricity, the UK’s largest public electric vehicle charging network, for an undisclosed amount.

Ubitricity has more than 2,700 charge points in the UK, which amounts to a market share of about 13%.

Shell already has more than 1,000 fast and ultrafast charging points of its own plus others run by partners and at petrol stations.

The Anglo-Dutch FTSE 100 member has committed to becoming a net-zero carbon emission business but has been criticised by some over the pace of change compared to rival BP, which today announced another major gas divestment.

Shell first moved into the broadband sector in 2018 through the acquisition of First Utility, a household energy supplier.

The renamed business, Shell Energy Retail, has roughly 130,000 UK broadband customers and 870,000 residential energy users.

The deal will allow the Post Office to refocus on its core operations of mail and parcels, banking, travel services and bill payments.