How Citic oiled the wheels of Kazakh M&A

Buying an oil-producing company in Kazakhstan is by no means a straightforward process, as Citic’s acquisition of Nations Energy makes clear. Nor is the Chinese company’s future in the country at all clearly signposted. Elliot Wilson reports.

Nations sale marks the end of an era
Saidenov: Kazakhstan faces up to the down side of rapid growth

WHEN CITIC GROUP snapped up Nations Energy of Kazakhstan for $1.9 billion in December 2006, the deal was both a coup for the Chinese conglomerate and an indication of the increasingly frenzied attempts of foreign companies to grab assets in leading energy-producing countries.

Not only had resources-to-banking-to-construction conglomerate Citic beaten all of China’s leading oil and gas majors to land the Canadian-owned oil producer – in itself an eyebrow-raising event, but more intriguingly, the Beijing-based company’s all-cash bid was not the highest offer.

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