Baker Hughes to Receive $3.5 Billion Breakup Fee From Halliburton

The second- and third-largest oilfield services companies in the world officially ended their merger agreement late Sunday. Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) and Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) had announced a deal in November 2014 that was then valued at about $35 billion and included a breakup fee of $3.5 billion to Baker Hughes if the deal fell through.

Regulators in both Europe and the United States were wary of the deal, and the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit to block the merger in early April, citing the threat of higher prices and less innovation in the industry. The two companies said at the time that they would fight the suit, saying that they believed it was “counterproductive” given the current situation in the crude oil market.

Even if the two firms had completed the merger, the new, combined company would still have trailed industry biggie Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), the world’s largest oilfield services company. At today’s market caps, Schlumberger would be valued at about twice the proposed combination.

Halliburton Chairman and CEO Dave Lesar said:

While both companies expected the proposed merger to result in compelling benefits to shareholders, customers and other stakeholders, challenges in obtaining remaining regulatory approvals and general industry conditions that severely damaged deal economics led to the conclusion that termination is the best course of action.

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Martin Craighead, Baker Hughes chairman and CEO, added:

This was an extremely complex, global transaction and, ultimately, a solution could not be found to satisfy the antitrust concerns of regulators, both in the United States and abroad.

Baker Hughes shares closed up about 1% on Friday, at $48.36 in a 52-week range of $37.58 to $70.45.

Halliburton’s stock closed at $41.31, up about 0.7%, in a 52-week range of $27.64 to $50.20.