GE Begins Divesting from Baker Hughes Early

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Less than one year after buying Baker Hughes (in July 2017), GE decided in June of this year it didn’t want its bright shiny new toy any more and would, over the next 2-3 years, divest itself of Baker Hughes (see GE Dumping Baker Hughes in Bid to Boost Stock Price). We figured GE would look for a new buyer and sell the whole thing all at once. But that’s not how it works in the world of high finance. GE owns 62.5% of all Baker Hughes stock (BH is, on paper, a separate company). Instead of waiting 2-3 years, GE is moving ahead now, beginning to sell some of its BH stock. Ever so gradually (don’t want to flood the market all at once). The plan, being called “mutually beneficial for both companies” by GE CEO Larry Culp, will draw down GE’s ownership to just over 50%, with an eye to completing the breakup sometime in late 2019.

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