US: Baker Hughes and GE merger closes, creates No. 2 oilfield services company

The US$23 billion merger of Houston oil field services firm Baker Hughes with the oil and gas division of industrial giant GE closed on Monday morning, the companies said, creating the second largest oil field services firm in the world and changing the trajectory of one of Houston’s biggest employers.

The company, which will have dual headquarters in Houston and London, will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BHGE.

Lorenzo Simonelli, the former chief executive of GE Oil & Gas and new chief of Baker Hughes, a GE company, said the combination will join Baker Hughes’ oil field expertise with GE’s industrial computing power and “transform” the industry. The new company, he said, will have the capacity to expand into all parts of the oil and gas business, from the wellhead to the pipeline to the refinery — and even into power generation.

“So, what does Baker Hughes do for us?” Simonelli said in an interview with the Chronicle on Friday. “It really helps to complete the full integration of what we’ve done, full-stream.”

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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