China's CNOOC lauds Canadian approval of Nexen buy

BEIJING (AP) -- China's state-owned CNOOC said on Saturday that it is delighted that the Canadian Ministry of Industry has approved its $15.1 billion proposed takeover of Canadian oil and gas producer Nexen. Once finalized, it will be China's largest overseas energy acquisition, coming at a time when other Chinese companies such as telecommunications giant Huawei are encountering difficulties in expanding in North America, Europe and Australia. Wang Yilin, chairman of China National Offshore Oil Co., said the approval is recognition of the acquisition's long-term economic benefits for Calgary, Alberta and Canada. Nexen is headquartered in Calgary in Canada's Alberta province and is to remain there after CNOOC's takeover as its head office for north and central American operations. "I express my appreciation for Canada's welcome of our investment," Wang said in a statement Saturday. CNOOC Chief Executive Officer Li Fanrong said the takeover will bring opportunities for Nexen employees, partners and CNOOC. "We are delighted that the Ministry of Industry has concluded that this transaction represents a 'net benefit' to Canada," he said. China's Ministry of Commerce could not be reached for comment Saturday. Despite the approval, the Canadian government said it will reject any future takeovers in the oil sands sector by foreign state-owned companies unless there are exceptional circumstances. "To be blunt, Canadians have not spent years reducing ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. In 2005, U.S. lawmakers blocked a CNOOC $18.5 billion bid to buy the oil company Unocal over national security concerns.

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CNOOC pledge small step for China transparency, skeptics abound

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) - CNOOC's promise of transparency, pledged to win approval from Canada for its $15.1 billion purchase of Nexen Inc, looks like a positive step on the face of it but is unlikely to represent a sea change in Chinese business practices. To be sure, the details of commitment are not clear. The state-controlled energy firm has promised the Canadian government an annual compliance report on all its commitments that are part of its takeover of Nexen Inc, China's biggest ever takeover. These include listing shares on Toronto stock exchange, which comes with certain disclosure requirements. But when capital is king, cash-rich Chinese state-owned enterprises have the balance of power in any acquisition talks, leaving doubts about the real potency of transparency pledges. "On the transparency side, I believe there will be efforts from foreign governments to get more information, but it's still a question of how far China is willing to give," said Robert Lewis, a partner at Zhong Lun law firm in Beijing. "Twenty years ago it was all about foreign capital coming into China and that foreign capital having the leverage in negotiations. Now it's the other way round, so China will not have to give as much on the transparency side as some might suspect". The international community has demanded greater transparency from China on a number of fronts for years, wary of its intentions as the country grew to become the second-biggest economy in the world and symbolic of a shift in global power to emerging nations. On the latest front, U.S. securities regulators are in an intense stand-off with their Chinese counterparts over access to Chinese audit documents. Separately, a U.S. congressional advisory panel described Chinese investment in the United States as a "potential Trojan horse." China's state-secrets laws, massive bureaucracy and cronyism make it difficult to get key, verifiable information from Chinese companies. FINANCIAL CLOUT But the same Chinese companies yield considerable global clout. Chinese companies launched $51.3 billion of overseas acquisitions this year, second only to Japan, Thomson Reuters data shows, making the country one of the world's most active buyers of corporate stakes and businesses abroad. Much of that acquisition power is led by China's government-run companies, and its energy sector, which has both the cash and the need to build up oil-and-gas supplies to fuel the $5.8 trillion economy. The government owns all large financial institutions, which lends according to state priorities and directives and which favour large state enterprises -- one reason why the Washington think tank, the Heritage Foundation, ranks China 138th out of 179 in global economic freedom. Even Chinese companies that aren't classed as state-owned enterprises, such as telecom giants Huawei and ZTE, face accusations they could covertly gather information for Beijing. In October, a U.S. congressional report urged American companies to stop doing business with the two companies saying the Chinese government could take advantage of their equipment for espionage purposes. Canada and Australia have also indicated they will ban Huawei from taking part in communication network projects due to cyber security concerns. The Nexen deal, and a separate though less contentious $5.3 billion offer by Malaysia's Petronas for Canada's Progress Energy, provided capital infusions to two Canadian companies, not to mention payouts to shareholders at a time of economic uncertainty. Such considerations may trump the fear of a state-owned bogeyman coming to town. "No government in the world is going to say 'we don't want your money'," said Andrew Lumsden, a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Sydney. "There will be a bit of huffing and puffing but it's probably business as usual". GROUND RULES Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the Chinese affiliates of five of the world's biggest audit firms with violating U.S. securities law. The United States and China could still reach a settlement, but the action shows the U.S. securities watchdog and their Chinese counterparts could not find agreement on the exact topic under discussion with CNOOC-Nexen: transparency of information. Canada though is following in the steps of other countries that have attracted money from state-backed Chinese companies, such as Australia and Norway, in putting place a working set of ground rules. "There's become an almost standard set of behavioral undertakings that firms accept in Australia from these kind of companies and reading between the lines it looks like the Canadians are doing similar," said Lumsden at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. "The companies put in place a series of undertakings such as ensuring they have local management and comply with local environmental laws", he said. Rupert Li, a partner at King & Wood Mallesons in Hong Kong, said all Chinese companies should study Nexen's transparency clause, particularly those that plan to venture abroad. "If you want to be part of the global business community, people should have more visibility into your management, your finance, and who actually drives your strategy," Li said, adding the extent of a board's independence was also important. "The question is whether the Chinese companies can actually dispel the notion that they are just part of the mandate from the Chinese government as opposed to being a true profit seeking entity," he added.

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Huawei duplicará personal en Europa

HELSINKI (Reuters) - El proveedor de equipos de telecomunicaciones chino Huawei Technologies planea duplicar su plantilla de empleados en Europa durante los próximos años e instalará un centro de investigación en Finlandia destinado a desarrollar nuevos teléfonos avanzados. Los planes de expansión para Europa se dieron a conocer dos meses después de que legisladores estadounidenses señalaron que los equipos de Huawei podrían ser usados para espionaje de China. La firma enfrenta también prohibiciones en Australia para el desarrollo de ciertos equipos de redes debido a preocupaciones de seguridad que no fueron especificadas. "Europa ha demostrado ser un ambiente de negocios tranquilo y abierto para Huawei", dijo el portavoz de la empresa Roland Sladek. Huawei dijo que planea emplear a más de 14.000 trabajadores dentro de Europa en cinco años, con lo que duplicaría su actual fuerza laboral de unos 7.000 empleados. También planea gastar 70 millones de euros (91 millones de dólares) para un nuevo centro de investigación y desarrollo en Finlandia que se enfocará en el desarrollo de teléfonos avanzados. La firma dijo que quiere lanzar nuevos teléfonos avanzados incluyendo dispositivos con plataforma Windows Phone 8. Los dispositivos móviles representaron el año pasado un 22 por ciento del negocio de Huawei. (1 dólar =0,7735 euros)

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Huawei to double staff in European expansion

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies plans a hiring spree in Europe, seeking growth outside the United States where its prospects have been clouded by spying concerns. Huawei said on Monday it planned to double its workforce in Europe and would set up a research center to develop new smartphones in Finland, where former global leader Nokia Oyj is shedding thousands of workers. "Europe has proven to be quite an open business environment for Huawei," company spokesman Roland Sladek said. The expansion plans for Europe come two months since a U.S. congressional report alleged Huawei's equipment could be used for Chinese espionage. The company has also been barred in Australia from tendering in a $38 billion national high-speed broadband network project due to unspecified security concerns. The group aims to employ over 14,000 in Europe within three to five years, doubling the current workforce of around 7,000, and also plans to spend 70 million euros ($91 million) over five years on the new R&D center in Finland. It will be Huawei's 11th center in the region and will have a planned staff of around 100. Underscoring its European expansion, Huawei also said it won a services deal with 3 UK, owned by Hutchison Whampoa, a contract previously held by rival Ericsson. With Nokia cutting 3,700 jobs in the country, the Chinese group may face little difficulty finding recruits for its research center. While Nokia has been losing market share to both high-end smartphone makers and cheaper handset rivals, Huawei has been expanding its mobile phones business with new handsets using Google Inc's Android software. Mobile devices last year accounted for 22 percent of Huawei's business, which mostly focuses on routers and other telecoms equipment. Huawei has said it wants to launch new smartphones including Windows Phone 8 devices, which would add to the competitive pressure on Nokia. Huawei declined to give an estimated launch date for a new Windows Phone 8 device, but said its plans were "short term".

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Pa. woman sues Google over Gmail privacy, ads

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Pennsylvania woman has accused Google Inc. of illegal wiretapping for "intercepting" emails she sent to Gmail accounts and publishing content-related ads. Her lawsuit echoes others filed around the country by class-action lawyers who say the practice violates wiretap laws in some states. They represent email users who do not have Gmail accounts and have therefore not signed the company's acceptance terms. "The terms are that Google can intercept your emails and use them for direct marketing purposes," said lawyer Richard M. Golomb, who has sued Google in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. "They are also intercepting emails of the non-Gmail account holder, in violation of wiretap laws in some states." In court filings in the Maryland case, Google acknowledged that it routinely scans emails for spam and computer viruses, but said that's permitted under similar federal wiretap laws. Google argued that selling advertising based on the content of a received email is a routine business practice permitted under an exception written into the wiretap law. Google notes Yahoo and other email providers sell ads through similar methods. "There can be little doubt that selling advertising in order to provide a free service to consumers is a 'legitimate business goal,'" Google lawyer Michael G. Rhodes and others wrote in a Nov. 9 motion to dismiss the Maryland case. "If it were not, then the entire model by which content is provided on the Internet would be illegitimate, as would the business model by which television programming has been provided for free for the last half century." Courts reviewing email wiretap cases have repeatedly held that "parties expect and impliedly consent to having their communications intercepted and recorded whenever they use email," the Google lawyers wrote. Rhodes did not immediately return a call for comment Monday. At least one electronic privacy expert called it "a bit of a stretch" for Google to compare a search for advertising leads to rooting out spyware. "People think when you send a message, communications companies can filter out spam and malware, and that's correct. But filtering out spam and malware is not the same as looking at the content of the email to (find) keywords for advertising purposes," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "(What) if you were making a call on your Verizon cellphone, and you were talking to an Italian restaurant trying to make reservations for Friday and a Verizon agent jumped on the line and said, 'Oh, how about this place?'" Rotenberg said. "You're not supposed to be listening to my communications to try to sell me stuff — even if it's a better restaurant." The Philadelphia plaintiff, Kristen Brinkman, does not have a Gmail account and never signed the company's acceptance policy, according to her Nov. 30 lawsuit, which has been assigned to Senior U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody. Google wants the various legal disputes resolved in northern California, where the first such lawsuit was filed in June. The area is also home base for Google, which is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif.

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WRAPUP 1-Basketball-Milan, Partizan face early Euroleague exits

By Zoran Milosavljevic BELGRADE, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Defeats in the penultimate round of the Euroleague's preliminary group stage on Friday left the competition's former winners Emporio Armani Milan and Partizan Belgrade staring at early elimination. Fenerbahce, who spent heavily last summer hoping to assemble a side capable of slugging it out with Europe's best, are also skating on thin ice after a 69-55 defeat at six-time winners Panathinaikos Athens. Milan were in the driving seat for three quarters of their home match against Zalgiris Kaunas but a poor final period cost them as they slipped to a 67-65 loss to the Lithuanian champions. "Once again we lost a game because of stupid little mistakes and it shows that we are not in control in clutch moments," Milan coach Sergio Scariolo told the competition's official website (www.euroleague.net). "We're damned by our crucial mistakes which we made because of the big pressure, although we played against a big team with big players," added Scariolo, who stepped down as Spain coach last week after winning two successive European titles and the 2012 Olympic silver medal with them. Milan need to beat holders Olympiakos Piraeus away next week and hope that Spaniards Caja Laboral slip to an unlikely home defeat by Croatia's Euroleague debutants Cedevita Zagreb to advance into the second group stage of the competition. Roared on by their fervent fans, Partizan came close to upsetting Barcelona but plaudits from the visiting team's coach Xavi Pasqual was all they got from a rip-roaring contest in which the lead changed hands time and again in the cauldron of Belgrade's Pionir Arena. "Congratulations to Partizan fans for an excellent show and it is a kind of atmosphere that can't be seen anywhere else," Pasqual said after Barca ground out a 68-67 overtime victory thanks to a block by Partizan's former centre Nathan Jawai on the buzzer. "I think we were very good in the final period and overtime and this is a very important win for us." Partizan must beat German side Bamberg to keep alive any hopes of progressing but even that may not be enough if Lithuanians Lietuvos Rytas beat Besiktas Istanbul away in their final game. Fenerbahce were also dragged into a complicated three-way battle for one of the last three remaining berths in the top 16 after they were soundly beaten 69-55 at Panathinaikos Athens, one of the 13 teams who had already booked their spots with games to spare. An excellent individual performance by former Panathinaikos forward Romain Sato, the game's top scorer with 20 points, was merely a flash in the pan for the Turkish side who must beat Italians Mapooro Cantu in their dogfight and hope that Olimpija Ljubljana lose at Real Madrid. "My players are feeling the pressure of having to qualify for the top 16 and I hope the possibility of being eliminated will help us to play with heart and improve our game against Cantu," Fenerbahce's Italian coach Simone Pianigiani said. Forward Mike Batiste, another former Panathinaikos stalwart who moved to Fenerbahce during the close-season break, endured an emotional night in the Greek capital. "It was an unforgettable night for me," he said. "I came back home with lots of great memories and strong emotions I experienced in the last nine years; I was welcomed by the fans and that is something I will never forget, hence I am full of happiness and pride although we lost the game."

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Lakers' Gasol sidelined for third straight game

(Reuters) - The Los Angeles Lakers will once again be without injured forward Pau Gasol when they try to climb back to the .500 mark against the streaking Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. The Spaniard will miss his third straight game due to tendinitis in both knees and Antawn Jamison is expected to start in his absence, having scored 15 points as Gasol's replacement in each of the previous two games. "Tonight we're playing the Thunder of @sergeibaka9! My knees are improving but I still won't be able to be out there with my team," Gasol tweeted after the Lakers shoot around on Friday. The Lakers certainly face an uphill task in Oklahoma City where they take on the Western Conference-leading Thunder (15-4)who are seeking their seventh consecutive win. Gasol is averaging a National Basketball Association career low in points with 12.6 per game while the Lakers have slipped to 9-10 for the season after starting out with lofty expectations. Despite adding six-time All-Star Dwight Howard and twice former Most Valuable Player Steve Nash in the off-season to a strong line-up headed by five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have failed to fire consistently. Former head coach Mike Brown and his Princeton offense have been replaced by Mike D'Antoni and his promise of "Showtime-type basketball" but the injury-hit team has not yet gelled under its new structure. Nash played just two games this season before being sidelined indefinitely with a small fracture in his right leg and fellow guard Steve Blake is out for six-to-eight weeks with a torn abdominal muscle. The ever-inspirational Bryant is averaging a league-best 28 points per game for Los Angeles and he become the youngest player to score 30,000 career points during his team's 103-87 road win against the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday. But the Lakers could certainly do with four-time All-Star Gasol regaining both form and fitness if they are to turn what has been a surprisingly disappointing season, so far, around.

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NBA-Lakers' Gasol sidelined for third straight game

Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Lakers will once again be without injured forward Pau Gasol when they try to climb back to the .500 mark against the streaking Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. The Spaniard will miss his third straight game due to tendinitis in both knees and Antawn Jamison is expected to start in his absence, having scored 15 points as Gasol's replacement in each of the previous two games. "Tonight we're playing the Thunder of @sergeibaka9! My knees are improving but I still won't be able to be out there with my team," Gasol tweeted after the Lakers shootaround on Friday. The Lakers certainly face an uphill task in Oklahoma City where they take on the Western Conference-leading Thunder (15-4)who are seeking their seventh consecutive win. Gasol is averaging a National Basketball Association career low in points with 12.6 per game while the Lakers have slipped to 9-10 for the season after starting out with lofty expectations. Despite adding six-time All-Star Dwight Howard and twice former Most Valuable Player Steve Nash in the off-season to a strong line-up headed by five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have failed to fire consistently. Former head coach Mike Brown and his Princeton offense have been replaced by Mike D'Antoni and his promise of "Showtime-type basketball" but the injury-hit team has not yet gelled under its new structure. Nash played just two games this season before being sidelined indefinitely with a small fracture in his right leg and fellow guard Steve Blake is out for six-to-eight weeks with a torn abdominal muscle. The ever-inspirational Bryant is averaging a league-best 28 points per game for Los Angeles and he become the youngest player to score 30,000 career points during his team's 103-87 road win against the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday.

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Heat look for answers after mauling by rival Knicks

Heat look for answers after mauling by rival KnicksMIAMI (Reuters) - Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra does not want any "drama" but his team's second 20-point loss to the rival New York Knicks in five weeks has certainly focused the minds of his team. The Heat, who entered Thursday's home game against New York still stinging from Tuesday's humbling road loss to the last-place Washington Wizards, were dominated by a Knicks team that enjoyed 18 three-pointers in a 112-92 win. Spoelstra said issues raised by Miami's lackluster effort, which led to their first two-game losing skid of the season despite playing a Knicks team that was without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, needed to be addressed. "We have to be honest with ourselves and really own it," Spoelstra said. "We are not going to over-dramatize this or make it bigger than it is. We are simply going to own it and the quicker we do, the quicker we can fix it." Spoelstra, who captured his first National Basketball Association title as a head coach last season, is certain his experienced roster has the qualities needed to resolve their current problems. "We have guys that are very familiar with our system. It's just going to take another level, another level of commitment, of effort, of communications, all those things that we are capable of but it's time," he said. All-Star forward Chris Bosh, who had 12 points in the loss, believes his team, which beat New York in all three meetings last season, are playing at too high a tempo. "We should really slow down some and really put pressure on teams. I think sometimes we get into this place where we try to force things by trying to play too fast. Sometimes it is good but there has to be a balance," he said. "We had a lot of success when we were just taking our time. We don't have to put it in our heads to just 'go.' We're a good team, we can pick you apart, whatever way you want it." LeBron James, who put up a game-high 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a losing effort, disagreed that excessive speed was behind the loss. "Pace has nothing to do with us getting smashed. If we play fast we have to get back and communicate defensively. Slow the pace up? I don't know, we will play whatever type of game, we'll be fine," he said. For James, the NBA's reigning Most Valuable Player, Miami's main problem is a lack of on-court communication. "We communicate sometimes and that is not a good thing, we have to do it all the time. We have to communicate more and now have as many breakdowns," said James. "They pretty much kicked our ass. We can't just throw this under the rug and move on to the next game. We have some work to do."

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NBA-Heat look for answers after mauling by rival Knicks

MIAMI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra does not want any "drama" but his team's second 20-point loss to the rival New York Knicks in five weeks has certainly focused the minds of his team. The Heat, who entered Thursday's home game against New York still stinging from Tuesday's humbling road loss to the last-place Washington Wizards, were dominated by a Knicks team that enjoyed 18 three-pointers in a 112-92 win. Spoelstra said issues raised by Miami's lackluster effort, which led to their first two-game losing skid of the season despite playing a Knicks team that was without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, needed to be addressed. "We have to be honest with ourselves and really own it," Spoelstra said. "We are not going to over-dramatize this or make it bigger than it is. We are simply going to own it and the quicker we do, the quicker we can fix it." Spoelstra, who captured his first National Basketball Association title as a head coach last season, is certain his experienced roster has the qualities needed to resolve their current problems. "We have guys that are very familiar with our system. It's just going to take another level, another level of commitment, of effort, of communications, all those things that we are capable of but it's time," he said. All-Star forward Chris Bosh, who had 12 points in the loss, believes his team, which beat New York in all three meetings last season, are playing at too high a tempo. "We should really slow down some and really put pressure on teams. I think sometimes we get into this place where we try to force things by trying to play too fast. Sometimes it is good but there has to be a balance," he said. "We had a lot of success when we were just taking our time. We don't have to put it in our heads to just 'go.' We're a good team, we can pick you apart, whatever way you want it." LeBron James, who put up a game-high 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a losing effort, disagreed that excessive speed was behind the loss. "Pace has nothing to do with us getting smashed. If we play fast we have to get back and communicate defensively. Slow the pace up? I don't know, we will play whatever type of game, we'll be fine," he said. For James, the NBA's reigning Most Valuable Player, Miami's main problem is a lack of on-court communication. "We communicate sometimes and that is not a good thing, we have to do it all the time. We have to communicate more and now have as many breakdowns," said James.

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