Report : GE In Advanced Talks For Halliburton Drilling Assets

(RTTNews) - General Electric Co. (GE) is in advanced talks to buy the drill-bits and drilling-services divisions of Halliburton Co. (HAL), which is divesting assets to win antitrust approval for its takeover of Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI), Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Selling both the drill-bits and drilling-services businesses could have fetched as much as $5 billion in total for the oilfield services provider, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this year, when the units were each put on the block.

The report indicated that GE is also exploring bids for other assets that Halliburton is seeking to unload, including parts of Baker Hughes's completions operations. No final deal with GE has been reached, and Halliburton may still decide to sell some or all of the other assets to other buyers.