Baker Hughes to buy BJ Services in $5.5 billion deal

HOUSTON (AP) — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Monday that it will buy BJ Services Co. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $5.5 billion to diversify the services it offers and compete better with industry leaders.

Baker Hughes customers will get a one-stop shop for a variety of services. Notably, BJ Services’ pressure-pumping business will go to Baker Hughes, which will help clients with unconventional gas and deepwater fields, said Chad Deaton, Baker Hughes Chairman, President and CEO.

“It will better position us to drive international growth and to compete for the growing, large integrated projects by incorporating pressure pumping into our product offering,” he said. Integrated oil companies are active in all phases of the business, including production, refining, transportation and marketing.

Pressure pumping made up less than 1 percent of Baker Hughes 2008 revenue but is expected to comprise about 20 percent of the company’s revenue after the deal is complete. Pressure pumping injects liquid or gas into wells to increase the amount of recoverable oil or natural gas. This added business will boost Baker Hughes’ total revenue near levels of its two largest competitors, the company noted. Schlumberger Ltd. is the world’s largest oilfield services company, with Halliburton Co. just behind it in size.

Pritchard Capital Partners analyst Stephen Berman said the combined company will have BJ Services’ pressure-pumping franchise and Baker Hughes’ international market share.

But Wachovia analyst Tom Curran remained skeptical. While he expects the deal to help the company compete in bidding for foreign integrated projects in the long term, he believes excess capacity in North American pressure pumping and the timing of the deal will hurt the company in the near term.

“Baker Hughes will likely come under fire for not closing on this deal when BJ Services was much cheaper,” Curran said. BJ Services shares have risen more than 32 percent this year.

In a conference call, Deaton explained that the timing of the deal made sense. He believes that the energy market has reached a bottom, international markets will grow and oil prices have reached a “decent” level.

Since the beginning of the year, the price of crude oil has gained 64 percent as of Friday’s close. The price of natural gas has shed more than 46 percent of its value.