Hundreds of thousands of people who bought British Gas shares in the 1980s are in line for a windfall after their investment soared in value last night . The shares are one of the most popular in the UK due to the hugely successful ‘ Tell Sid ’ advertising campaign when British Gas was privatised . Last night shares in what is now called the BG Group rose by nearly 30 per cent to 1,153p . The shares are one of the most popular in the UK due to the hugely successful ‘ Tell Sid ’ advertising campaign when British Gas was privatised . The rise came after the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell announced plans to buy BG Group in a £47billion deal . It is one of the biggest takeovers ever . News of the deal has driven up the price of shares in BG now owned by people who originally bought British Gas shares in 1986 . British Gas was privatised by Margaret Thatcher ’ s government after the widely publicised ‘ Tell Sid ’ campaign . The share sell-off , which encouraged people to spread news of the offer with the slogan ‘ If you see Sid , tell him ’ , saw more than 1.5million people pay 135p a share when the company was listed on the Stock Exchange . In 1997 British Gas was split in two to form the oil explorer BG Group and the British Gas owner Centrica . Shareholders received shares in both companies . Those investors who retained these shares have since received hundreds of pounds in dividends . Anyone who bought 100 shares at the time of privatisation would have paid £135 ( £366 today , after taken inflation into account ) . The holding across the now separate companies of Centrica , National Grid and BG Group , is currently worth more than £1,604 . The proposed Shell takeover will mean investors are now due 383p for every BG share they own . Investors will also be in line for higher dividends . But the windfall pales in comparison to the rewards for BG Group ’ s newly arrived chief executive Helge Lund who could be in line for more than £30million in pay and perks if the deal completes next year . Ben van Beurden , CEO of Royal Dutch Shell , ( left ) shakes hands with the Chairman GB group Andrew Gould ( right ) during a press conference to announce Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to buy British Gas , in London . Mr Lund was poached by BG to help turn around the group and started in February , just weeks before talks to sell the business began . The takeover , which will create a company valued at £200billion , could be the first of many in the oil sector as the falling oil price , means firms are vulnerable to predators . The bid has been months in the planning . Shell ‘ ran the numbers ’ on BG , Britain ’ s third largest energy company , last year as its share price has fallen by a fifth since the oil price crash . His signing-on bonus was cut from £12 million to £10.8 million in December amid outrage from investors . Shell ’ s chief executive Ben van Beurden made a call to BG ’ s chairman Andrew Gould on Sunday March 15 and a ‘ cloak and dagger ’ meeting took place at the Dorchester Hotel last month . He described the deal as a ‘ fantastic fit ’ and said the ‘ logic ’ to buy BG has always been there but that the falling oil price made it a ‘ whole lot more compelling ’ . The deal will have to be approved by a series of regulatory bodies worldwide including the European Commission . Shell employs more than 94,000 people across 70 countries . BG has 5,200 staff across 24 countries . News of the merger led to job fears . In the UK Shell has around 6,500 staff while BG employs around 1,600 . Shell is in the process of laying off 500 people at its North Sea operations where old oil fields are becoming too expensive to operate . Ben van Beurden , CEO of Royal Dutch Shell , ( left ) and Andrew Gould ( right ) . The takeover will create a company valued at £200billion . It could be the first of many in the oil sector as the oil prices fall .
Shares made popular in 1980s 'Tell Sid ' ads rise following sale of BG Group . Value rose 30 % to 135p after Royal Dutch Shell indicated intention to buy . £47billion deal , one of the biggest takeovers , creates £200billion company .