Chinese takeaway

Here comes moneybags. That should be the first reaction of Unocal’s shareholders to the $20bn cash bid from Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC. Its bid is some $2bn more than Chevron offered for the US oil company just two months ago. And as that was considered rich at the time, Chevron is unlikely to be able to increase it. In a normal takeover battle, that would mean CNOOC has the game in the bag. Yet in this case there is no certainty the Chinese offer will pass muster either with Unocal o...