Overseas M&A by Chinese companies and the implications for managers in Europe and the US

Thursday 31st March 2011

Hosted by: Fasken Martineau

Co-organizers:
AIM - Advanced Institute of Management Research
Asia-Pacific Technology Network

Chair

  • Martin Bloom, Non-executive Chairman, Renesola

Speaker

  • Professor Peter Williamson, Professor of International Management, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
  • John Frieslaar, CTO Key Accounts, Huawei Technologies (UK)

As China has grown, there has been a massive expansion of outward Chinese investment. Some of this has been tied to Resource Diplomacy and has been aimed at mineral resources in Africa and Latin America. A fair amount, however had been aimed at targets in the US and Europe (Volvo/Geely, MG-Rover/Shanghai Auto, TCL/Thomson Electronics, Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad etc). There have been controversies and blocked bids (CNOOC/Unocal, Chinalco/Rio Tinto, Huawei/3Com), but this is a phenomenon which is becoming part of everyday life.

Peter Williamson is a specialist on the dynamics of successful Chinese companies. In this seminar, he will look at the story of China's M&A history, and will discuss how western managements should be responding..

Huawei is the second-largest manufacturer of mobile network equipment in the world, which has expanded in a spectacular way into West European and Emerging Markets, even though there has been some politically-inspired resistance in the United States. The company has supplied kit to 46 of the world’s top 50 telecoms operators. Since 2005 Huawei has worked with BT to provide kit to upgrade the UK fixed-line phone operator’s network. John Frieslaar will give an idea of how this Chinese company is coming to terms with its new global role.

Location: Fasken Martineau, 17 Hanover Square London W1S 1HU
Nearest tube station: Oxford Circus
Timing: Registration from 17:00: seminar from 17:30 - 19.15 (followed by refreshments)
Pricing:

  • Free to Fasken Martineau clients, APTN's annual supporters and AIM Fellows
  • £40 + VAT (Executives)
  • £20 + VAT (Asian citizens/institutions, officials, executives from Small Companies)
  • £10 + VAT (Academics),
  • Free for the Media

To Register your interest- please send your details (name, institutional affiliation, email address, phone number - and the category you come under) to biz22@aptn.org

Peter Williamson
Peter has been actively involved with business and research in Asia for nearly three decades and in China since 1983. He has held professorships at London Business School, Harvard Business School, INSEAD (in Singapore) and, currently, the Judge Business School in Cambridge. Formerly with The Boston Consulting Group, he serves on the boards of several companies. He holds a PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University. 

His well-received book, Dragons at Your Door: How Chinese cost innovation is disrupting global competition, was published by Harvard Business School Press in 2007. His other recent books include: Winning in Asia: Strategies for Competing in the New Millennium (2004) and From Global to Metanational: How Companies Win in the Knowledge Economy (2001). His article in the MIT Sloan Management Review “Is Your Innovation Process Global?” received a Sloan-Price Waterhouse Coopers Award honouring articles that have contributed most to the enhancement of management practice