Word: fu
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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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...
...Meanwhile, at Courtis' urging, CNOOC's board insisted on hiring an outside investment bank?NM Rothschild & Sons?and an energy consulting firm to do their own independent evaluation of the deal, in the hope that the board and Fu might eventually find some common ground. But Schurtenberger wasn't going to stick around for the results. On April 4, he submitted his resignation from the board in writing, citing health reasons. (He has had prostate cancer for many years.) When Courtis failed to appear on the dais at the annual shareholders' meeting the next month in Hong Kong, it caused...
...independent reports came in. One source describes their findings as "explanatory for the most part, not strongly endorsing a deal, but not entirely negative, either." Fu put the matter to the board again. Courtis, who had not resigned, was now in a difficult position. Advisers to CNOOC have said he still had reservations about the deal. But his employer, Goldman Sachs, had been hired by CNOOC as its investment adviser and stood to reap a significant reward for its efforts only if the deal went through. When it came time for another board vote, Courtis recused himself. Henkes, critically...
...behind it. Besides Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, the company had 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...
...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...