CNOOC Limited To Withdraw Unocal Bid
03 August 2005 - 12:05AM
PR Newswire (US)
HONG KONG, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CNOOC Limited
(SEHK:0883) ( NYSE: CEO) announces that it has withdrawn its offer
for Unocal (NYSE:UCL). We believe that the combination of CNOOC and
Unocal would have created a strong and successful oil and gas
company, focused on the fast growing Asian economy, to the benefit
of our shareholders and the employees of both companies. We entered
into the bidding process for Unocal in good faith, following
procedures set out by Unocal. CNOOC's fully financed offer to
acquire all of Unocal's outstanding shares for cash at a price of
$18.5 billion represents a premium of approximately $1 billion
above Chevron's current competing bid and clearly superior value
for Unocal shareholders. We proposed and agreed to a variety of
measures to provide further comfort to Unocal's shareholders. In
addition, recognizing that the transaction would be reviewed by
CFIUS, pursuant to the United States Exon-Florio Act, CNOOC
initiated a voluntary filing with CFIUS, and proactively committed
to take actions with respect to Unocal's U.S. assets as necessary
to satisfy CFIUS findings. CNOOC has given active consideration to
further improving the terms of its offer, and would have done so
but for the political environment in the U.S. The unprecedented
political opposition that followed the announcement of our proposed
transaction, attempting to replace or amend the CFIUS process that
has been successfully in operation for almost two decades, was
regrettable and unjustified. This is especially the case in light
of CNOOC's purely commercial objectives and the extensive
commitments that CNOOC was prepared to make to address any
legitimate concerns U.S. officials may have had regarding our
acquisition. This political environment has made it very difficult
for us to accurately assess our chance of success, creating a level
of uncertainty that presents an unacceptable risk to our ability to
secure this transaction. Accordingly we are reluctantly abandoning
our higher offer to the clear disadvantage of Unocal shareholders
and employees. We deeply appreciate the support we have had from
shareholders in recent weeks, but feel it is no longer in their
fundamental best interests that we pursue our bid in these
circumstances. We maintain a disciplined and focused approach to
our evaluation of opportunities to grow shareholder value and will
continue to work closely with companies and countries around the
world. To this end, we look forward to continuing our strategy and
business plan and to growing our business for our shareholders.
Contacts: Investor Xiao Zongwei 86 10 8452 1646 CNOOC Limited
(Beijing) Media Hong Kong: Tim Payne or Ray Bashford 852 3512 5000
Brunswick Group Beijing: Caroline Jinqing Cai 86 10 8580 5203
Brunswick Group New York: Steve Lipin or Michael Buckley 212 333
3810 Brunswick Group Washington, D.C.: Mark Palmer 202 419 3557
Public Strategies, Inc Notes to Editors: CNOOC LIMITED - BACKGROUND
CNOOC Limited (the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the
"Group"), was listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") (code:
CEO) and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("HKSE") (code:
0883) on 27 and 28 February 2001, respectively. The Company was
admitted as a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Index in July
2001. The Group is China's largest producer of offshore crude oil
and natural gas and one of the largest independent oil and gas
exploration and production companies in the world. The Company
mainly engages in offshore oil and natural gas exploration,
development, production and sales. The Company has four major oil
production areas offshore China which are Bohai Bay, Western South
China Sea, Eastern South China Sea and East China Sea. It is the
largest offshore crude producer in Indonesia. The Group also has
certain upstream assets in regions such as Australia. As at 31
December 2004, the Company owned net proved reserves of
approximately 2.2 billion barrels-of-oil equivalent and its annual
daily average net production was 382,513 barrels-of-oil equivalent
per day. The Group had 2,524 employees and total assets of
approximately RMB 94.1 billion. Important Notice: This document
contains statements about expected future events and financial
results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and
uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the
safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following important
factors could affect future results and could cause those results
to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking
statements: whether a transaction with Unocal will occur and the
terms and conditions of any such transaction; the extent and timing
of our ability to realize synergies from the transaction; the
effect of the transaction on employees, customers and other persons
that have a material commercial relationship with CNOOC Limited or
Unocal and our ability to maximize the value of those
relationships; the possibility that the anticipated benefits from
the acquisition cannot be fully realized; the possibility that
costs or difficulties related to the integration of Unocal
operations will be greater than expected; the impact of
competition; the parties' ability to obtain required regulatory and
other approvals in connection with the transaction; and other risk
factors relating to our industry as detailed from time to time in
each of CNOOC Limited's and Unocal's reports filed with the SEC. In
addition, future results could also differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements. You should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date of this press release. Unless legally required,
CNOOC Limited undertakes no obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. DATASOURCE: CNOOC LIMITED CONTACT:
Investor - Xiao Zongwei, +86-10-8452-1646, CNOOC Limited (Beijing);
or Media - Hong Kong: Tim Payne or Ray Bashford, +852-3512-5000,
Brunswick Group, or Beijing: Caroline Jinqing Cai,
+86-10-8580-5203, Brunswick Group, or New York: Steve Lipin or
Michael Buckley, +1-212-333-3810, Brunswick Group; or Washington,
D.C.: Mark Palmer, +1-202-419-3557, Public Strategies, Inc Web
site: http://www.cnoocltd.com/
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