Forty-one members of the U.S. Congress have signed an open letter to President George W. Bush urging a stiff government review of Cnooc Ltd.'s $18.5 billion unsolicited acquisition offer for Unocal Corp.
Signed by both Democrats and Republicans, the letter, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said that the Congress members "are very concerned" about Cnooc's $67-per-share offer.
The letter represents what is sure to be an acrid political and shareholder campaign between Cnooc and Chevron Corp., which has already agreed to a $16.2 billion cash-and-stock offer. Chevron is trying to stymie Cnooc's offer by raising national-security and energy-policy concerns in Washington.
The 41 members of Congress don't raise any prospect for legislation, and fall far short of representing a voting bloc that could pass a bill in the House of Representatives.
But they do show that there is a vanguard of China skeptics in Congress who could agitate against a deal if it were to progress.
The letter called for an immediate examination of the proposal by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, a government group chaired by the Treasury Department that reviews foreign acquisitions.
Under the terms of CFIUS, however, a deal can't be officially examined until it is agreed to by both parties.
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