CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Canadian energy company Nexen and China's CNOOC said they aimed to get a U.S. review of a takeover bid completed as soon as possible.
State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. in July offered to take over Nexen for $15 billion. Around 90 percent of the Nexen shareholders voted in favor of the deal.
CNOOC had issued a voluntary request to the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment to examine the offer. The U.S. government needs to review the deal because Nexen has operations in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Both sides announced they withdrew and resubmitted a voluntary notice to the U.S. regulator with the aim of completing the review process "as expeditiously as possible."
Terms of the agreement with CNOOC are subject to the approval of the provincial government of Alberta, where Nexen has headquarters.
In early November, Canadian regulators extended the review period for acquisition for a third time to Dec. 10, saying more time was needed for an adequate consideration.
Neither side offered an explanation for resubmitting the proposal to U.S. regulators.
In July, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, called on regulators to block the deal, saying it would give "valuable American resources away to a foreign government."
