Liam Denning, Columnist

GE and Baker Hughes Leave One Company Heartbroken

There won't be much in the way of choice morsels falling out of this deal.

October 31, 2016 at 2:58 PM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

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Baker Hughes, having slipped through Halliburton's fingers, has landed in the arms of General Electric. One company would have preferred the first marriage to go through: Weatherford International Plc.

Two years ago, when Halliburton Co. announced its intentions for Baker Hughes Inc., Weatherford was viewed as a potential side beneficiary. Two things were supposed to happen. First, it was pretty clear Halliburton and Baker Hughes would be forced to divest assets to appease competition regulators. Second, their combination would have taken the oilfield services industry's big three -- including Schlumberger Ltd. -- to a big two.