Word: fu
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...board's revolt in March reflects the growing pains that an ambitious Chinese company is going through even as it tries to present a confident face to the world. Indeed, the issue of what CNOOC's board knew and when remains a touchy subject for Fu as the takeover fight progresses. In an interview with TIME, he declined to say exactly when he told his board of his intentions toward Unocal. But the reason for the board's initial ire is clear: according to SEC documents, as far back as December, Fu had directly discussed the possibility of acquiring Unocal...
...Chinese company's investment bankers?reveals a far more complicated reality. CNOOC is a flagship Chinese firm determined to emerge as a major player in the global oil business, rewarding its shareholders in the process. The Unocal bid was its coming-out party, but at times, for Fu Chengyu & Co., it's been anything but fun. It has, so far, shown top management to be not completely fluent in Western-style corporate governance, or aware of the political backlash its acquisition attempt might spur across the Pacific...
...role. When it became clear at the meeting in late March that the board had been left mostly in the dark about CNOOC's plans for Unocal, a few outside directors, including former Swiss ambassador to China Erwin Schurtenberger and Goldman Sachs Asia vice chairman Kenneth Courtis, rebelled, forcing Fu to pull back just as Operation Treasure Ship was about to set sail. Ever since, CNOOC has had to play catch-up against Chevron in the fight for Unocal...
...Fu downplays the initial discourse with Williamson, saying he was simply talking with someone his company had done business with in the past, and the topic of a possible merger came up only briefly. But the first time Chevron's CEO, David O'Reilly, spoke to Williamson about a possible merger?just weeks after Fu's conversation with Unocal in December?the Chevron chief was politely rebuffed, according to SEC documents. If Unocal was going to be sold, it appears that CNOOC had already been given first dibs...
...less than a month, Fu intended to do just that. But by late March, he still hadn't informed his directors. "He was treating his own board as an afterthought," says one source close to the outside board members. "It was very much the China of 20 years ago in the way the directors were treated initially?where the boss decides and the board just rubber-stamps everything. Why were they treated that way? I don't have a clue...