Halliburton buys rival Baker Hughes for $34.6bn

Oilfield services giants Halliburton and Baker Hughes today announced a definitive agreement under which Halliburton will acquire all the outstanding shares of Baker Hughes in a stock and cash transaction.

The transaction is valued at $78.62 per Baker Hughes share, representing an equity value of $34.6 billion and enterprise value of $38.0 billion, based on Halliburton’s closing price on November 12, 2014, the day prior to public confirmation by Baker Hughes that it was in talks with Halliburton regarding a transaction.

Upon the completion of the transaction, Baker Hughes stockholders will own approximately 36 percent of the combined company. The agreement has been unanimously approved by both companies’ Boards of Directors.

“The transaction combines two highly complementary suites of products and services into a comprehensive offering to oil and natural gas customers,” the two companies said in a joint statement today, adding that, on a pro-forma basis the combined company had 2013 revenues of $51.8 billion, more than 136,000 employees and operations in more than 80 countries around the world.

“We are pleased to announce this combination with Baker Hughes, which will create a bellwether global oilfield services company and offer compelling benefits for the stockholders, customers and other stakeholders of Baker Hughes and Halliburton,” said Dave Lesar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton.

Lesar continued, “We know how to create value, how to execute, and how to integrate in order to make this combination successful. We expect the combination to yield annual cost synergies of nearly $2 billion.”

Martin Craighead, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baker Hughes said, “We envision a combined company capable of achieving opportunities that neither company would have realized as well – or as quickly – on its own, all while creating exciting new opportunities for employees.”