Exclusive | Chinese arms dealer Norinco tussles with Jiangsu’s richest man for a portion of Abu Dhabi oil in CEFC’s fire sale to pare debt
One of the world’s biggest arms dealers is competing with Jiangsu’s richest man for a strategic stake in the United Arab Emirates’ largest crude oil producer
A strategic stake in the United Arab Emirates’ largest crude oil producer is up for grabs in a fire sale that is underway half a world away in Beijing, where CEFC China Energy is being broken up in the Chinese government’s campaign to pare back private sector debt.
CEFC’s main creditor China Development Bank is putting the Chinese company’s 4 per cent stake of Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation (Adnoc) up for sale, according to three sources familiar with the plan.
Two front runners are competing for the stake: the Hengli Group, owned by Jiangsu’s wealthiest man, and China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco), one of the world’s biggest arms dealers, the people said, declining to be named for disclosing private conversations.
Citic Group, the biggest among China’s state conglomerates and a buyer of CEFC’s assets in the Czech Republic, has withdrawn from making an offer, after having conducted due diligence on the Abu Dhabi stake, the sources said.
The fire sale at CEFC kicked off in earnest after its chairman and founder Ye Jianming was taken away in mid-February by Chinese authorities to help with investigations into the circumstances that led to his company’s explosive, debt-fuelled growth into China’s largest privately owned energy conglomerate.
