During the Obama reign of terror, the world’s #2 largest oilfield services company, Halliburton, tried to buy the world’s #3 largest oilfield services company, Baker Hughes. The Obama Dept. of Justice (DOJ) killed that deal (see Obama DOJ Kills Halliburton/Baker Hughes Merger, Deal “Terminated”). It was a costly mistake for Halliburton–they had to pay Baker Hughes a $3.5 billion breakup fee. Baker Hughes was on a mission to sell itself to someone, and eventually found a new suitor last October: GE Oil & Gas (see Breaking: Who Needs Halliburton? Baker Hughes Merging with GE O&G). Since then the two have worked hard to ensure there will not be a repeat of the Halliburton disaster. Earlier this month we told you that Europe has blessed the deal (see Europe Approves GE Takeover of Baker Hughes, Co Gets a New Name). Now the Trump DOJ has blessed the deal too. GE had to agree to sell its Water & Process Technologies business (called GE Water). Small price to pay. The two maintain that the merger will take place “mid-year”. Since it’s already mid-year, we expect that translates to July or August…
