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US: Halliburton-Baker Hughes merger delayed for review for third time

By  |  March 21, 2016

European antitrust regulators on Monday delayed their review of Halliburton’s $35 billion takeover of Baker Hughes for a third time.

The European Commission said important data about the merger between the two oilfeld service providers weren’t provided.

“Once the missing information is supplied by the parties, the clock is restarted, and the deadline for the Commission’s decision is then adjusted accordingly,” an EC spokesman said in an email to Reuters.

Halliburton shares fell 0.6% to 36.10 in the stock market today. Baker Hughes shares were down 1.6% to 46.67.

The European Commission stopped its investigation into the companies on Feb. 18 to get more information from them and then restarted the probe on March 8, saying a decision was expected by July 11.

Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are concerned that a merger between the No. 2 and No. 3 service providers would reduce competition. Schlumberger is the current market leader.

Full content: Reuters

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