About

‘In the past 10 years, I participated in almost all the major outbound petroleum M&A events that Chinese SOEs initiated, and also witnessed a lot of landmark transactions’. To name a few highlights, CNOOC M&A head Leslie Zhang was part of the core team handling the company’s $15.1bn acquisition of all Nexen Inc’s outstanding common and preferred shares; ‘the biggest transaction any Chinese company has ever completed’. He also led the team which completed a $4bn debt offering by way of the first SEC registration completed by a Chinese SOE. In 2014, Zhang assisted in a major restructuring of CNOOC’s legal department, which involved integrating M&A and corporate commercial operations into one team and delegating certain assignments to CNOOC group subsidiaries’ legal departments. Zhang has also focused on improving not only technical expertise, but also managerial, communication and commercial capabilities. To this end, he introduced ‘evaluation factors’ into the performance reviews, focusing on the latter skills. When asked what he enjoys most about his position, Zhang highlights the part he plays in the business’s growing expansion and his ‘national pride’ in CNOOC’s work.