My guess - and this is strictly that, a guess - is that there must be other factors at play besides the economic ones.

I mean, suppose the Saudi Arabian bin Laden family construction company was about to buy-out some big U.S. construction company?

Even if the family and the deal were squeaky clean, I have to think that Bush would get the word to the CFI that the deal shouldn't be approved, based alone on the public relations disaster it would cause.