Halliburton’s Acquisition of Baker Hughes Likely to Receive Close Antitrust Scrutiny from Department of Justice

On November 17, 2014, Halliburton Company (“Halliburton”) announced plans to acquire Baker Hughes, Inc. (“Baker Hughes”) for $34.6 billion. Halliburton and Baker Hughes are two of the world’s largest oilfield services companies, providing drilling, formation evaluation, reservoir consulting and related services to oil and gas producers. Halliburton and Baker Hughes are reportedly considered two of the big three global oilfield services companies in the industry, second and third behind Schlumberger Ltd. (“Schlumberger”), the leading oilfield services company in the world. Although Schlumberger is reportedly the largest oilfield service company, reducing suppliers from 3 to 2 in any market will inevitably raise red flags with the Department of Justice (the agency expected to review the transaction), who will undoubtedly conduct a thorough antitrust review.

on November 21, 2014 at 4:00 PM