Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has told shareholders the $US53 billion takeover of BG Group will act as a "springboard to change and reshape" the group, and outlined plans for job and spending cuts, as well as $US30 billion of asset sales that look certain to affect the business in Australia. In a prospectus issued overnight for the takeover, which is heading for completion early next year, Shell cut expected capital expenditure for the merged group by $US2 billion to about $US33 billion, down 30 per cent from 2014 levels.