Chevron bid likely to win

Chevron Corp's US$17.3 billion ($25.2 billion) bid for Unocal is likely to win approval from a majority of shareholders next week amid doubt that a higher, all-cash offer from China's Cnooc can overcome opposition by United States lawmakers.

Chevron's cash-and-stock plan to buy the California oil company Unocal was backed this week by Institutional Shareholder Services, the biggest adviser to fund managers on merger votes.

The group said Cnooc's offer was not enough to offset the risk that US politicians could scuttle a deal.

"That recommendation is probably a pretty good sign of which way the vote will go," said Christopher Edmonds, managing director at Pritchard Capital Partners, a New Orleans investment banking firm that specialises in energy.

- BLOOMBERG