USA:

Halliburton Agrees to Buy Baker Hughes (Wall Street Journal)

Companies also provide drilling services for geothermal energy

As suggested a few days ago Halliburton Co. agreed to buy rival Baker Hughes Inc. in a stock-and-cash deal valued at $34.6 billion, ending weeks of discussions and merging the world’s second- and third-largest oil-field services companies.

The deal, seen helping the companies contend with falling oil prices, comes after weeks of discussions that turned hostile. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Halliburton and Baker Hughes were in talks for a possible tie-up. On Friday, Halliburton moved to overthrow the Baker Hughes board after discussions broke down.

The companies face a world where drilling for oil and gas has become increasingly expensive and competitive—and falling crude prices are only adding to the pressures on oil-field services firms. Those trends, industry experts say, likely spurred Halliburton to approach its smaller rival.

Combining the companies will create a new oil-field-services giant that can offer lower prices to customers, executives from both companies told analysts Monday morning.

A takeover of Baker Hughes would create a global giant better able to compete with Schlumberger NV for huge overseas projects. The three companies “have been in a knife fight the past few years,” analysts at Tudor, Pickering Holt & Co. said.

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