Message-ID: <11134654.1075857282945.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 01:31:00 -0800 (PST) From: fool@motleyfool.com To: benjamin.rogers@enron.com Subject: Breakfast With The Fool: Shell Inks $4.05 Billion China Deal Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: The Motley Fool X-To: benjamin.rogers@enron.com X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Benjamin_Rogers_Dec2000_4\Notes Folders\Motley fool e-mails X-Origin: Rogers-B X-FileName: brogers.nsf _________________________________________________________________ B R E A K F A S T W I T H T H E F O O L Monday, October 30, 2000 benjamin.rogers@enron.com _________________________________________________________________ REGISTER TO BECOME A FOOL -- GET FREE STUFF! http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=172916 _________________________________________________________________ Sponsored By: BUYandHOLD Hey Fool! Want to know the SECRET to long-term investing? Compounding and dollar-cost averaging! Start investing with as little as $20! Just $2.99 per order! http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=172917 "From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!" -- Cornish prayer SHELL INKS $4.05 BILLION CHINA DEAL After 12 years of talks, Shell and China National Offshore Oil Corp. agreed to the largest Sino-foreign pact yet. By Tom Jacobs Patience is a virtue -- especially for foreign businesses in China. According to Reuters, Shell Chemicals topped off 12 years of negotiations with China National Offshore Oil Corp. by signing a $4.05 billion petrochemical contract over the weekend. The Chinese Xinhua news agency heralded the deal as the largest joint venture yet between China and a foreign partner. Shell is majority-owned by Netherlands-based energy powerhouse Royal Dutch Petroleum (NYSE: RD), now facing increased worldwide competition from the proposed merger between Chevron (NYSE: CHV) and Texaco (NYSE: TX). http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=172918 The companies will build a petrochemical complex in the southern city of Huizhou, Guangdong province, which will at first produce ethylene and petrochemical products. Reuters reports Xinhua's assertion that the new project brings technology for China to make low-end chemical products. The $4.05 billion involves only the Huizhou complex, for which construction will begin in 2003. More cash will be pumped into a subsequent phase involving oil refineries, according to Xinhua. The deal supports one view that foreign business deals with China and many Asian nations require years of relationship development. Shell already operates more than 20 oil and chemical projects in China, but even after talks extended from 1988 to an agreed-upon framework in 1997, it took until this weekend to ink the final details. Xinhua reports $330 billion in foreign direct investment in China since economic liberalization began in the 1970s. Front-page placement on the People's Daily showcases China's current commitment to foreign deals. Others this year include Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) $1.9 billion chip-making complex contract, announced in August, and the on-again, off-again CDMA phone deal with Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM). _________________________________________________________________ NEWS TO GO Publishers Reed Elsevier (47% owned by Elsevier (NYSE: ENL)) and Thomson Corp. announced a $4.45 billion cash purchase of rival educational publisher Harcourt General (NYSE: H) on Friday. Reed plans to keep Harcourt's medical, scientific, and technical businesses. It will also retain the elementary and secondary school textbook operations, but sell Harcourt's higher-education and professional businesses to Thomson for $2.06 billion. Harcourt closed Friday up 9.05% to $56.81. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=172919 The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) are in talks over a possible Microsoft $1 billion investment in Sky Global, News Corp.'s global satellite TV asset and investment arm. News Corp. had hoped to spin off Sky Global this year, but the move has been reportedly postponed until next year due to the softening market for public offerings. DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX) said it would shut down seven North American manufacturing plants for a week -- four in the U.S. and three in Canada. Spokesman Juergen Wittman told Reuters: "We want to catch up with demand. We need to balance our inventory." Wittman also said the action has nothing do with earnings or Friday's 1.4 million unit Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth minivan recall due to seal leaks. The Wall Street Journal reports that Loral Space & Communications (NYSE: LOR) CEO Bernard Schwartz is in talks with Societe Europeene des Satellites about injecting cash or partnering with the weakened company. Loral has been hit by stumbles of its 40%-owned low-earth orbit satellite venture, Globalstar (Nasdaq: GSTRF) -- whose satellite communications system has seen a slower subscriber ramp -- and the hangover from the failed Iridium satellite telephony venture. The Journal reported that Schwartz promises not to put more cash into Globalstar unless it makes sense compared to other stand-alone investments. Loral has already pumped in $1 billion of the $4.3 billion Globalstar cash diet, and is slated to assume $500 million in debt by the end of the year. Loral's share price closed Friday at $5.19 -- less than Globalstar's finish at $6. Enjoy Friday's Foolish market wrap-up with a swift click! http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=172920 _________________________________________________________________ EDITORS' PICK Got 401(k) funds lingering from a former job? 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MsgId: msg-12344-B10308036Address.msg-09:28:03(10-30-2000) X-Version: mailer-sender-master,v 1.84 X-Version: mailer-sender-daemon,v 1.84 Message-Recipient: benjamin.rogers@enron.com