Shell Pays $115m For The Aggregate

British company Shell has been forced to pay $115 million in advisers' fees and taxes to move from a dual-company structure to a more traditional unified board following its reserves scandal.

The company?s said in the statement: "The aggregate costs and expenses payable by Royal Dutch Shell group in connection with the transaction are estimated to amount to $115m."

Some will go to investment houses such as Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro, which are independent advisers to the British and Dutch arms of Shell respectively.

Meanwhile, audit fees to KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers have soared from $32m in 2003 to $42m in 2004.