Acquisition

DCC PLC
27 September 2004





                          DCC and Shell reach agreement
            on purchase and sale of the business of Shell Direct UK
                                        
DCC plc, the value added sales & marketing and support services group, and Shell
UK Limited announce that they have reached agreement for DCC Energy to acquire
the trade, assets and goodwill of the business of Shell Direct UK which supplies
heating oils and transport fuels to domestic, agricultural and small commercial
and industrial customers in Britain.

The business, which will operate as a Shell branded distributor trading as Emo
Oil, operates from 36 depots across Britain and employs approximately 500
people. The business has sales volumes of approximately 600 million litres per
annum which, at current energy prices, would give a turnover of approximately
€300 million (Stg£205 million). As the acquisition is being effected through an
asset purchase of a business that was fully integrated within Shell UK Limited,
historic results for companies within Shell that owned the assets being
purchased are not relevant. However, DCC anticipates that the business will be
modestly profitable in the first full year of ownership by DCC. Thereafter DCC
expects to significantly increase the profit contribution from the business as
the benefits of DCC's specialist skills and experience in the oil marketing and
distribution sector flow through.

The agreed consideration, which will be satisfied in cash, is €20.13 million
(Stg£13.75 million) for the trade, assets and goodwill, which include 15
freehold and 8 leasehold oil depots, 199 road tankers and 5 customer services
centres. The book value of the assets acquired is €12.91 million (Stg£8.82
million). The acquisition consideration together with an estimated working
capital requirement of €3.00 million (Stg£2.05 million) will result in a total
investment cost of €23.13 million (Stg£15.80 million).

The acquisition by DCC builds upon the success of its acquisition in 2001 of
BP's oil marketing and distribution business in Scotland. It extends DCC's reach
throughout Britain in the fragmented oil sales and marketing business and
provides an excellent infrastructure onto which DCC can add complementary
bolt-on acquisitions in the future. DCC will now have sales volumes of
approximately 1.1 billion litres in Britain and will become the largest
independent oil marketing and distribution business in the British market.

DCC Energy has also built a strong nationwide business in the sale and marketing
of liquefied petroleum gas (propane and butane) in Britain following a period of
strong organic growth and a number of acquisitions. These acquisitions
culminated with the purchase of the British Gas LPG business from Centrica plc
in 2002 which positioned DCC as the second largest liquefied petroleum gas sales
and marketing business in Britain with a market share of approximately 21%. DCC
Energy also has a nationwide business, with strong market positions, in the sale
and marketing of oil and liquefied petroleum gas in Ireland.

Jim Flavin, Chief Executive/Deputy Chairman of DCC plc, said today:

    'This acquisition fulfils DCC's strategy to have a nationwide business in 
    oil sales and marketing as well as liquefied petroleum gas in Britain. 
    Furthermore,the acquisition will leave DCC well positioned to make further 
    acquisitions of a bolt-on nature in the fragmented oil marketing and 
    distribution business in Britain.'

Mark Haselden, Managing Director of Shell Direct, said today:

    'This deal makes good business sense for us. DCC is a leading player in the 
    oil sales and marketing business. Our agreement means that DCC will provide 
    the highly localised service that customers increasingly demand while 
    ensuring that customers continue to receive high quality Shell branded 
    products.'

DCC Energy generated sales of €841 million and operating profit of €45.8 million
in the year ended 31 March 2004 which contributed significantly to the DCC Group
sales of €2.2 billion and operating profit of €120.9 million in that year.

Consultations with Shell Direct UK employees are now taking place and it is
anticipated that the transaction will be completed in November 2004.



For reference:

DCC plc                                 Shell

Jim Flavin                              Bianca Ruakere
Chief Executive/Deputy Chairman         Shell Media Relations

Tommy Breen                             Tel. + 44 207 934 4323
Managing Director - DCC Energy          Email: [e-mail]
                                        Web: www.shell.co.uk
Kieran Conlon                        
Investor Relations Manager

Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Web: www.dcc.ie





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