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Case Study

Dealing with differences: Sinopec's acquisition of Addax Petroleum (A)

By Margaret Cording and Winter Nie

10 pages

October 2013

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Reference: IMD-3-2405

Sinopec Group, a state-owned Chinese oil and gas company, just acquired Addax Petroleum, a mid-sized Western European oil company with assets in Africa and the Middle East. Sinopec had embarked on an aggressive international expansion strategy as it sought to gain access to oil reserves outside of China. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Addax Petroleum had grown rapidly via acquisitions and was considered a highly entrepreneurial international company. As a result of the financial crisis, however, Addax Petroleum was running out of cash and received a 49% premium from its sale to Sinopec. Zhang Yi, a long-time Sinopec employee, has been selected to join Addax Petroleum’s management team. As he prepares to move to Geneva, Zhang is contemplating what his priorities should be to help Sinopec achieve its goals and ensure a smooth integration.

Learning Objective

To explore issues involved in managing the post-merger integration process, particularly in the context of an acquisition of a developed country company by a company from an emerging market. Provides an opportunity for students to wrestle with how to approach cultural integration and to ensure the transfer of knowledge.

Keywords

Post-merger Integration, Oil, General Management, Strategy

Settings

China
2009 - 2013

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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