American, T. Rowe win big in oil M&A deal

American Funds and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. are the big mutual fund winners in Chinese offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd's acquisition of Nexen Inc. Ticker:(NXT). CNOOC Ticker:(CEO) on Monday morning announced plans to buy the Canadian oil producer for $27.50 a share, a 61% premium over the previous Friday's closing price of $17.06. Shares were up 53% in pre-market trading Monday. The deal is cause for celebration at American Funds and T. Rowe Price, the two largest shareholders of Nexen. The American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund Ticker:(AEPGX) was the largest single shareholder, with more than 21,000,000 shares, or 3.98% of Nexen's total shares, as of June 30, according to Morningstar Inc. The American Funds Growth Fund of America Ticker:(AGTHX) held 6,435,000 shares, making it the fourth-biggest shareholder, although it missed out on even bigger gains by reducing its holding of Nexen by 48% from March 31 to June 30, according to Morningstar. While the American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund may be the biggest shareholder, the T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Value Fund Ticker:(TRMCX) likely will receive the biggest performance boost. It held almost 10,190,000 shares as of March 31, which made it the second-biggest single shareholder and accounted for 2.14% of its total assets, compared with 0.38% of total assets for EuroPacific Growth Fund. The T. Rowe Price Value Fund Ticker:(TRVLX) was the third-largest shareholder, with 6,682,000 shares.