Weird But True
You would expect an investment firm that's about to attempt the world's largest takeover in history to have a top-floor office in the heart of the business district.
But the office of Chinese firm King Win Laurel Ltd, which put in a record $450 billion for oil giant Exxon Mobil yesterday, is neither anywhere near downtown Beijing nor as lavish as its supposed business deal might suggest.
Instead, it is housed in a $250-a-month apartment in the outskirts of the Chinese capital, according to a The Electric New Paper report.
In its U.S. regulatory filing to buy the world's biggest oil firm at a 25 percent premium to its current value, King Win listed its address as a flat in the Tong Zhou district, which is about 50 kilometers outside of Beijing, according to the report.
The contact person listed in the filing was its director, Xiufeng Zhang.
Neighbors, who share the 20-story building with the investment firm, said that the rent for the flat would be about $250.
That's why they can't believe that the young man who lives there operated an investment firm capable of pulling off the world's largest takeover.
"A company? That would be impossible," a neighbor named Zhu told The Electric New Paper . "He seems to be an employed man in his mid-20s, tall and slim. He comes home very late at night."
As CSNews Online reported earlier in the week, ExxonMobil dismissed the bid from King Win, a company incorporated in New Zealand, with an apparent history of making unsolicited offers for large companies, according to the report.
Last year, a firm called King Win Laurel International Ltd. launched an offer to buy Telstra, Australia's largest phone company.
The same name, Xiufeng Zhang, popped up in media reports about that bid, which was dismissed as a hoax.
"We do not believe that King Win Laurel Limited is financially capable of making such a tender offer," said Exxon spokesman Dave Gardner in a statement.
According to the report, analysts laughed, literally, at the notion of the offer.
"While our initial feeling is to ignore the offer, it is academically possible that the bidder could receive funding," Bosc Inc. debt analyst Jon Cartwright told The Electric New Paper .
But the office of Chinese firm King Win Laurel Ltd, which put in a record $450 billion for oil giant Exxon Mobil yesterday, is neither anywhere near downtown Beijing nor as lavish as its supposed business deal might suggest.
Instead, it is housed in a $250-a-month apartment in the outskirts of the Chinese capital, according to a The Electric New Paper report.
In its U.S. regulatory filing to buy the world's biggest oil firm at a 25 percent premium to its current value, King Win listed its address as a flat in the Tong Zhou district, which is about 50 kilometers outside of Beijing, according to the report.
The contact person listed in the filing was its director, Xiufeng Zhang.
Neighbors, who share the 20-story building with the investment firm, said that the rent for the flat would be about $250.
That's why they can't believe that the young man who lives there operated an investment firm capable of pulling off the world's largest takeover.
"A company? That would be impossible," a neighbor named Zhu told The Electric New Paper . "He seems to be an employed man in his mid-20s, tall and slim. He comes home very late at night."
As CSNews Online reported earlier in the week, ExxonMobil dismissed the bid from King Win, a company incorporated in New Zealand, with an apparent history of making unsolicited offers for large companies, according to the report.
Last year, a firm called King Win Laurel International Ltd. launched an offer to buy Telstra, Australia's largest phone company.
The same name, Xiufeng Zhang, popped up in media reports about that bid, which was dismissed as a hoax.
"We do not believe that King Win Laurel Limited is financially capable of making such a tender offer," said Exxon spokesman Dave Gardner in a statement.
According to the report, analysts laughed, literally, at the notion of the offer.
"While our initial feeling is to ignore the offer, it is academically possible that the bidder could receive funding," Bosc Inc. debt analyst Jon Cartwright told The Electric New Paper .