Halliburton Co. said it expanded its list of assets to sell as it tries to convince antitrust authorities around the world that its purchase of rival Baker Hughes Inc. won’t impede competition.
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All of the articles I've read indicate a noticeably "less than enthusiastic" chance of the deal ever happening.
Man these f---ers are desperate. F---ing losers
I don't think more divestitures will matter unless they can find a buyer who is a "full service" company which is becoming more unlikely every day.
I wonder if they divest ~ $10 B worth of HAL / BHI assets to gain approval how likely the CEOs and Boards of Directors are to get sued for breach of fiduciary responsibilities. I don't see how, given the clearly to be protracted low oil prices, they can defend closing this deal given the poor sale price they will get and the diminished share of the market increase they will enjoy. $3.5 B (if BHI ever sees all of that) seems the sounder course.
The execs are still pushing for this deal because:
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To save face
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To get their payouts
Baker announces Q4 earnings on Thursday. If they also announce they will divest pressure pumping the deal has a chance. If not, the deal is dead.
If HAL or BHI are still pushing for a deal it confirms that their "leadership" are complete idiots.
As separate companies HAL and BHI will be battle scarred but might just survive as smaller versions of themselves. However, if they merge the conjoined company will be insolvent within two years. SLB must be dancing in the boardroom..