GE, Baker Hughes get green light for merger (OilPrice.com)

Irina Slav / OilPrice.com

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has given the go-ahead to a proposed merger between GE?s oil and gas business division and Baker Hughes that will create an oilfield service company bigger than Halliburton, second only to Schlumberger. The DOJ granted its approval in exchange for GE agreeing to sell its GE Water & Process Technologies unit. GE arranged to part with GE Water earlier this year, inking a deal with French Suez to sell it for US$3.4 billion.

The merger has already been cleared by the European Commission as well, unconditionally. Now that the DoJ has also backed the deal, Baker Hughes will put it to the vote at the end of this month.

GE, meanwhile, announced that its chief executive Jeff Immelt will retire at the end of this year, to be replaced by the head of GE Healthcare, John Flannery.

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