Word: bidding
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...directors told Fu that they would not back the bid unless they were given more time to study it. Fu agreed, and had to phone Williamson back on April 2 and climb down, telling the Unocal CEO that CNOOC would not be coming forth with an offer that day after all. "That couldn't have been an easy call to make," says a source close to Fu. "It was like calling off a wedding at the last minute, with all the guests in church...
...Even worse, from CNOOC's standpoint, Unocal was now preparing to marry someone else. Williamson had told Chevron's O'Reilly that he needed to sweeten his bid further?and include some cash?in order for Unocal's board to approve it. O'Reilly did so, and with CNOOC suddenly sidelined, Chevron was in the driver's seat. Unocal's board in Los Angeles met into the wee hours on April 3. At 4:30 a.m., O'Reilly and Williamson signed a merger agreement...
...hired Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, one of Washington's pre-eminent lobbying firms, as well as the same media consulting company that has worked for George W. Bush's two presidential campaigns. Finally, with his board's backing, Fu on June 22 announced its $18.5 billion all-cash bid for Unocal. "It's the superior offer and I believe we'll prevail," he told TIME in early July. His advisers insist that's not bravado. "He really thinks we're going to win this thing," says one of his bankers...
...right. Chevron has not yet countered, so CNOOC's remains the richer bid as Unocal shareholders prepare to vote on Aug. 10. But despite all the high-priced bankers and lobbyists, Fu did not appear to be prepared for what Schurtenberger had discussed at the board meeting in late March: the political firestorm the bid would provoke in the U.S. Fu, CNOOC sources say, was stunned by the June 30 Congressional resolution objecting to the merger. So was the Chinese government. One of Fu's advisers says Beijing, already sparring with Washington over the value of China's currency...
...Washington, CNOOC responded last week by trying to kick-start the approval process, asking the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), run by the U.S. Treasury Department, to begin its analysis of the bid. The only problem was, CFIUS, an interagency body that reviews mergers between foreign and American companies for potential U.S. national-security risks, gets to work only after a deal is done. It won't move until it is clear that CNOOC is going to win Unocal. Banking sources say Chevron may well wait until shortly before the Aug. 10 Unocal shareholders' meeting before...