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Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange and Hewitt Sign Strategic Co-operation Agreement

2008-11-13 10:59 2035

SHANGHAI, China, Nov. 13 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The largest assets and equity exchange in China, Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, and Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, signed a strategic co-operation agreement on November 10th, 2008. Under the terms of the agreement, the two parties will work together to facilitate mergers and acquisitions in the China market.

The co-operation between Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange and Hewitt is wide-ranging. It involves providing enterprises with practical transaction training and M&A HR due diligence services, post-merger integration services, and joint M&A research and trend analysis.

Mr. Cai, president of Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, said: "Hewitt is a global leader in human capital management in mergers and acquisitions, and as such, is able to provide effective programs and support around reorganization and during strategic business acquisitions. This co-operation reflects the internationalization strategy of Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, and is a powerful combination that will assist Chinese enterprises in overseas acquisitions."

The agreement was signed by Hewitt's Corporate Transaction and Transformation global practice leader, Dr. Piotr Bednarczuk who commented: "Over the last 20 years, Hewitt has helped leading companies around the world with the full spectrum of human capital challenges presented by international M&A. Chinese organizations will now be able to leverage this experience to successfully conduct their M&A transactions globally. In this way, we hope to help Chinese enterprises to 'venture out' even more."

According to Mr. Cai, despite a slowing world economy, M&A activity in China has continued unabated. Further, with the continued appreciation of the Chinese Yuan, overseas M&A is even more attractive for Chinese enterprises that now have an opportunity to buy overseas assets at attractive valuations.

Mr. Cai added: "To successfully realize these opportunities however, Chinese companies need to strengthen their capabilities in due diligence, including HR due diligence, post-merger integration, protection of property rights, and management systems control. Experience has shown that external professionals have their special position during M&A and provide unparalleled advantages. As a result, the co-operation of Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange and Hewitt has practical significance."

Smita Anand, Hewitt's Consulting Practice Leader in Asia-Pacific, said: "The co-operation will help China establish a more comprehensive platform for mergers and acquisitions. The partnership allows both parties to work together on behalf of enterprises who conduct business with Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, providing them with high value-added consultative services with a far-reaching impact."

About Hewitt's Corporate Transaction and Transition Services

Unsurpassed M&A experience: Hewitt works with some of the most acquisitive organizations in the world to execute their transactions, including M&A partnerships with organizations such as GE, Philips, Royal Bank of Scotland, Shell, and Wal-Mart. We have led in some of the largest, most complex and successful corporate transactions over the past five years (MetLife/Travelers, GE Plastics/Sabic, SuperValu/Albertsons, HP Compaq). This experience is invaluable to our clients as they navigate their transactions.

Deep human capital expertise: Around the world, Hewitt has the deep human capital expertise needed to execute transactions. We have experts in employment transfers, leadership/talent, compensation and benefits, HR operations, culture, change management and communications, and project management to meet all the human capital needs in a deal. We also have these resources on the ground in 33 markets and more than 90 offices to partner with clients in global transactions.

Turn-key HR M&A approach focused on results: Hewitt provides HR M&A expertise, tools, templates, and processes to ensure that teams are prepared, focused, and able to execute. Our rigorous approach focuses on critical results so that clients: (1) conduct a thorough due diligence and pay the right price; (2) reflect HR needs in the terms of the deal agreement; (3) anticipate and plan for integration issues and accurately estimate integration costs; and (4) retain key talent and deliver a positive employee experience with minimal business disruption.

Tailored resourcing: Approach for added assurance/objectivity: Acquisitions present a tremendous financial risk. And, while many of our clients have significant deal experience, they choose to partner with Hewitt to add capabilities in key areas -- such as global deals -- or to add capacity for large transaction volumes or big deals. Our resourcing model is flexible to fit M&A needs. Involvement of Hewitt provides added assurance for deal success, as well as an objective, market-based perspective for human capital decisions.

About Hewitt Associates

For more than 65 years, Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) has provided clients with best-in-class human resources consulting and outsourcing services. Hewitt consults with more than 3,000 large and mid-size companies around the globe to develop and implement HR business strategies covering retirement, financial and health management; compensation and total rewards; and performance, talent and change management. As a market leader in benefits administration, Hewitt delivers health care and retirement programs to millions of participants and retirees on behalf of more than 300 organizations worldwide. In addition, more than 30 clients rely on Hewitt to provide a broader range of human resources business process outsourcing services to nearly a million client employees. Located in 33 countries, Hewitt employs approximately 23,000 associates.

For more information, please visit http://www.hewitt.com .

Source: Hewitt Associates
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