Business
The E.U. suspended its review of Halliburton-Baker Hughes merger because of insufficient data. The European Commission, which had previously set an Aug. 27 deadline for its decision on the deal, will set a new deadline once it receives the relevant information, a Commission spokesman said on Monday, reports Reuters. Halliburton said on Sunday that the EU competition authority had requested for information.
The deal has run into some opposition in the United States, where regulators are concerned about possible higher prices and less innovation, a source close to the investigation told Reuters last month.
In November 2014, Halliburton had agreed to acquire smaller peer Baker Hughes in a cash and stock deal valued at $78.62 per Baker Hughes share or a total of $34.6 billion, writes RTT News. The deal represented an enterprise value of $38 billion. Halliburton noted that it will work closely and cooperatively with the European Commission to provide this additional information in the near future. This will then start the formal review process.
