On January 6, Chairman Hao Zhigang of Bluestar and Adisseo was invited to participate in the GEMBA course of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) on “Acquisition and Merger”, presenting the corporate governance, business layout, cultural integration and strategic development of Bluestar and Adisseo via a video. He told the case story of Bluestar’s acquisition of Adisseo, sharing Adisseo’s international strategic vision and managerial practice for the CEIBS GEMBA class of 2019 in a warm atmosphere.
CEIBS is a globally renowned business school co-founded by the Chinese government and the European Union, serving as a pacesetter in Asia. Its Global EMBA program has been ranked second globally by the UK Financial Times for two consecutive years. While pursuing academic excellence, CEIBS also has undertaken a unique historical mission to become a platform for economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and other parts of the world. Chairman Hao’s sharing of corporate stories in a CEIBS classroom is conducive to promoting case teaching nationwide and globally, building a new platform for exchanges and cooperation between businesses and academic world, and contributing to the integration of education, research and business practice between China and the rest of the world.
In the keynote speech session, Chairman Hao introduced the general situation and financial status of Bluestar and its subsidiary Adisseo and had intensive exchanges on the investment highlights and M&A considerations that students were interested in. He said that Bluestar and Adisseo have practiced and benefited from China-Europe investment and Bluestar has started to make technology breakthroughs and capital acquisitions since China became a member of WTO. The acquisition of France Adisseo Group by Bluestar is the first overseas M&A in China’s basic chemical industry. Adisseo is the first successful securitization case of central enterprises’ overseas M&A projects in the domestic capital market, one that a state-owned enterprise under Bluestar achieves value preservation and appreciation through M&A.
In the roundtable dialogue session, Chairman Hao had wonderful interactions with Ding Yuan, vice president and registrar of CEIBS and independent director of Adisseo, Zhang Hua, associate professor of finance at CEIBS, and Cheng Yun, chairman and CEO of Lanvin Group and global partner of Fosun. He introduced that since it acquired Adisseo, Bluestar has achieved remarkable results in terms of strategic positioning and economic and social benefits, accomplishing the integration and increasing profitability significantly. Adisseo has been on the fast track of high-quality development, one typical case of state-owned enterprises merging and acquiring overseas ones to conduct successful management and make sustainable improvements in operating capacity. Adisseo’s development in China has been a key part of Bluestar’s global business. In the future, Adisseo will promote China’s innovations across the world by continuously increasing investment, expanding production and improving the capacity of the industrial chain.
Ding Yuan, vice president and registrar of CEIBS and independent director of Adiesseo, also said that the Adisseo case demonstrates the importance of management diversity and localization to overseas subsidiaries. Chinese companies can select talents based on their capabilities, potential, and adaptability to the target market, and form a unified, multi-level talent pool within the system through a long period of buildup in order to be ready for future business expansion.