中海油的新收购战略

The Chinese have their own twist on the adage about not replicating past follies. Chengqianbihou or “Learn from your mistakes to avoid repeating them.

加拿大政府日前宣布，批准中国海洋石油有限公司（China National Offshore Oil Corp，简称中海油）以180亿美元收购加拿大尼克森公司的申请。

That seems especially apposite now, as China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the state-controlled group, awaits a final decision on its proposed $18bn take-over of Nexen, one of Canada’s biggest energy companies with assets around the world. For it is only seven years since Cnooc attemp-ted a similarly ambitious deal in the US, only to be spectacularly rebuffed.

加拿大政府同时批准了马来西亚国有石油公司Petronas对该国天然气公司Progress Energy Resources的收购。在对上述两项收购批复后，加拿大政府宣布，未来外国国企在收购加拿大自然资源企业方面将面临更加严格的审核。

In 2005, Chevron offered to buy Unocal, the ninth-biggest US oil company, for $16.7bn excluding debt. But Cnooc, largely unknown in the country, quickly trumped Chevron’s bid with an offer of $18.5bn. The surprise move caught everyone off guard. Energy executives were stunned to see China’s appetite for natural res-ources stretching so far, so fast. US regulators were driven into a rhetorical frenzy in the face of what they perceived as an aggressive Chinese acquirer. And Chevron, thinking it had secured a prized asset, was forced to go on the defensive.

中国人对于不要重复过往的错误有自己的成语：惩前毖后，其意思是“吸取所犯错误的教训，避免以后再犯。这个词用在现在非常贴切。七年前，中海油也曾雄心勃勃地试图收购一家美国企业，但遭到了断然拒绝。

A huge lobbying effort, led by the US group, swept across Washington and prompted congressional hearings, while Cnooc failed to muster a strong justification for its bid or reassuran-ces that its motivations were benign.

2005年，雪佛龙(Chevron)对美国第九大石油企业优尼科(Unocal)发出了作价167亿美元（不包括债务）的收购要约。虽然中海油在美国的知名度不高，但其凭借185亿美元的收购报价一举压过了雪佛龙(Chevron)。中海油这一出人意料的举措令所有人都颇感震惊。能源公司的高管们吃惊地意识到，中国寻求自然资源的触角竟然伸展得如此迅速、如此广泛。美国监管当局在这一被他们视为具有攻击性的中国收购方面前则陷入了一种夸张的癫狂状态。而此前认为自己已经胜券在握的雪佛龙则被迫处于守势。

The House of Representatives quickly passed a non-binding resolution calling for an immediate investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (Cfius), saying the deal “would threaten to impair the national security of the United States. Before that review could reach a conclusion Cnooc withdrew, paving the way for Chevron to ac-quire Unocal for a sweetened $17.4bn.

雪佛龙组织了一波规模庞大的游说活动，其影响遍及整个华盛顿并促使美国国会召开听证会。而中海油则未能给出强有力的理由证明其收购要约的合理性，或使美国方面确信其收购动机是善意的。

Memories of the fiasco remain fresh for Cnooc and its many advisers. A senior deals lawyer in New York says: “[Cnooc] have come to the conclusion that there are some deals they’re never going to get done, but there are some we should be able to get done.

美国众议院迅速通过了一项非强制性决议，要求美国外国投资委员会(Committee on Foreign Investment)迅速就中海油要约收购优尼科一事展开调查，并称该交易“可能危及美国国家安全。中海油未等调查得出结论就撤销了收购要约，将价钱加到174亿美元的雪佛龙因此得以完成对优尼科的收购。

Other state-owned res-our-ces companies have similarly focused on deals that they believe are likely to win regulatory ap-proval. Most overseas investments by Chinese oil companies so far have been minority stakes in projects that were seeking funding.

中海油及其许多顾问对于此次惨败记忆犹新。一名驻纽约的资深并购律师表示：“中海油最后得出的结论是，有些交易他们永远无法达成，但仍有一些交易是他们能够实现的。

But with its bid for Nexen, Cnooc has shown it is looking to move on from Unocal. And it has worked hard to learn from past mistakes.

中国其他国有资源型企业也将注意力放在了那些他们认为有较大可能得到监管当局批准的交易上。到目前为止，中国石油企业的绝大多数海外投资都是对寻求融资的项目进行的少数股权投资。

Central to its recent efforts have been savvy, western-educated executives, such as Yang Hua, president of Cnooc group, the state-owned parent of the listed Cnooc Ltd, who is viewed as one of China’s best dealmakers. Mr Yang was chief financial officer of Cnooc’s listed entity during the Unocal bid. So this time, rather than catch a target off guard, he took his time courting it to lay the groundwork for a bid.

但此次中海油对尼克森发出收购要约表明，该公司已经准备好走出竞购优尼科失败的阴影。为了从过往的错误中吸取教训，中海油做出了很大努力。

One rainy day in July this year, Mr Yang walked into a west London hotel to meet oil industry veteran Barry Jackson, who chairs the board of Nexen. Cnooc officials had floated an offer at a meeting in Vancouver two months earlier and the Nexen board had rejected it as too low. But on that chilly Tuesday, Mr Jackson and Mr Yang struck an agreement that would pave the way for the acquisition effort and China’s return to large-scale, public market takeovers.

在中海油近期收购行动中，起核心作用的是一些富有见识、受过西方教育的高管，例如在母公司担任总经理的杨华，他被认为是中国最优秀的交易撮合家之一。在竞购优尼科期间，杨华是集团公司旗下上市实体中国海洋石油有限公司(Cnooc Ltd)首席财务官。因此这一次他花了大量时间向收购目标表达诚意，为提出收购要约打牢基础，而没有再像之前一样搞突然袭击。

Mr Yang’s delicate strategy, in which Cnooc made a friendly ap-proach followed by a higher offer, was crucial to getting the deal this far, with regard to both Nexen and to regulators, and just one of many ways in which the Chinese group adjusted its approach to deals.

今年7月的一个雨天，杨华走进了伦敦西区的一家酒店，与石油行业资深人士、尼克森董事长巴里·杰克逊(Barry Jackson)会面。两个月前，在温哥华一次会议上，中海油方面向尼克森提出过收购建议，被尼克森董事会以价格过低为由拒绝。但在那个寒冷的周二，杰克逊和杨华达成了一项协议，该协议不仅能为中海油展开收购尼克森行动铺垫道路，还有助于中国回归大规模公开市场收购领域。

Another was that this time Cnooc had an intimate knowledge of the target company’s market – and the target itself. In 2011, by which point Mr Yang was chief executive, Cnooc bought bankrupt oil sands producer Opti Canada for $2.1bn. Opti’s main asset was its 35 per cent stake in the Long Lake oil sands project in Alberta, in which Opti’s partner was Nexen.

按照杨华所设计的巧妙策略，中海油先与尼克森进行友好接触，再向其提出开价更高的收购要约。这一策略是这项收购要约在尼克森方面以及监管当局方面进展到当前程度的关键原因。而这不过是中海油对其交易策略所做的多项调整之一。

Cnooc worked closely with Nexen to tackle the challenges at Long Lake. Handling the project for the Chinese group was Fang Zhi, general manager of subsidiary Cnooc International. Within a year of the Opti acquisition being announced, Mr Fang was working on buying Nexen, attracted by the Canadian company’s broad range of assets.

中海油的另一项调整是，它这次详细地掌握了目标企业所在市场以及该企业本身的情况。2011年，杨华担任中海油首席执行官时，该公司斥资21亿美元收购已经破产的加拿大油砂生产商Opti Canada。Opti的主要资产为其在加拿大艾伯塔省长湖(Long Lake)项目中所持的35%股份，该项目的另一持股方是尼克森。

“The key on the Nexen deal is understanding Long Lake, says a person close to the bid. “When Cnooc bought out Opti they showed they believed in Long Lake and believed they could fix it.

中海油在长湖项目中与尼克森密切合作，共同解决遇到的困难。该项目中方负责人是中国海洋石油国际有限公司(Cnooc International)总经理方志。中海油收购Opti的消息公布不到一年，方志已经开始为收购尼克森做准备了。这家加拿大企业吸引中海油的地方在于其资产分布广泛。

These experiences convinced Cnooc that Nexen was worth pursuing.

“尼克森收购案的关键在于理解长湖。一名与收购案关系密切的人士表示，“中海油收购Opti的时候用行动证明自己对长湖有信心，也有信心解决好长湖的问题。

The final piece of the puzzle for Cnooc was to make sure it avoided the sort of political backlash that killed its Unocal bid. In the wake of the failed bid, the Chinese group revamped its approach to governmental and media relations, according to people familiar with the company. “Cnooc has been on a charm offensive ever since the Unocal deal, says a Washington lawyer familiar with the group’s operations.

这些经历令中海油相信，尼克森值得收购。

To help garner Canada’s support, Cnooc decided to move its North American headquarters to Calgary, keep on all Nexen staff and even consider a secondary listing on the Tor-onto stock exchange. “It was a priority from the very beginning to understand not only what the [legal] requirements were, but also to understand what the government and the industries require, says a person close to the bid.

中海油面对的最后一个难题是，如何才能避免当初收购优尼科时遇到的那种政治阻力。据与中海油关系密切人士透露，收购优尼科失败后，中海油全面调整了其政府和媒体关系策略。华盛顿一位熟悉中海油运营方式的律师表示：“自优尼科案失败以来，中海油一直在展开魅力攻势。

It was here that its work on the Long Lake oil sands project paid off. “They had already invested in Canada through Opti. They had gotten to know the provincial and federal regulators and spent some time to get to know the communities, says another person close to the deal.

为争取加拿大的支持，中海油决定将其北美地区的总部迁到加拿大卡尔加里，保留尼克森全部员工，甚至考虑在多伦多证券交易所二次上市。一名与收购案关系密切人士表示：“从一开始，中海油就把了解（法律）规定、了解政府及行业的要求作为一项优先要务。

Before the deal was announced on July 23, the Chinese group also informally approached officials in regions where Nexen has assets, including Canada, the US, UK and Nigeria, to prepare them. The responses were not definitive but were warm enough to be reassuring, according to one senior member of Cnooc management.

中海油在长湖油砂项目中付出的努力在这里得到了回报。另一名与收购案关系密切的人士表示：“他们已经通过Opti在加拿大投资。他们已经认识了当地政府和联邦政府一些监管人士，也已经花了一些时间熟悉当地社会。

“Part of talking to people on Capitol Hill is not so much to win their support but to neutralise them, says the New York deals lawyer.

收购尼克森交易的消息于今年7月23日宣布。在消息宣布之前，中海油也非正式地接触了尼克斯资产所在地的一些官员，包括加拿大、美国、英国和尼日利亚，以便让他们有个准备。中海油一名高层表示，官员们当时并没有明确答复，但至少态度比较温和，足以叫人放心。

All that work looks to have been worth the effort. Nexen’s shareholders have almost unanimously agreed to accept Cnooc’s bid, which offered them a 61 per cent premium for their shares. At the same time, the political climate is less hostile.

上文中提到的那位纽约并购律师表示：“与国会那些人接触，某种程度上并不是为了赢得他们的支持，而只是为了让他们保持中立。

Hurdles for the deal remain – both Canadian and US regulators have yet to clear the deal, with Cfius, which is involved because of Nexen’s assets in the Gulf of Mexico, having postponed its decision last week. A final decision from Canada is due by December 10.

这些努力似乎都获得了回报。尼克森的股东们几乎一致同意接受中海油的收购。中海油的出价比尼克森当前股价溢价61%。与此同时，政治氛围也比当初竞购优尼科时友好。

Cnooc, some dealmakers say, was ahead of its time with Unocal. In the words of one oil industry adviser: “The problem with being on the front foot is sometimes you get your toes chop-ped off.

因尼克森在墨西哥湾拥有资产，这项交易需经美国外国投资委员会批准，该委员会最近推迟了做出决定的时间。

一些交易撮合者表示，中海油当初提出收购优尼科时，各方面条件并不成熟。用一名石油行业咨询师的话来说：“采取攻势有时候难免会受伤。