Baker Hughes makes a $13.6 billion Chart Industries bet on LNG and datacenter demand
Baker Hughes announced on Tuesday that it will buy Chart Industries for $13.6 billion in an all-cash, debt-free deal. This is a bid to expand its LNG, data center and decarbonization businesses.
The acquisition is part of Baker Hughes’ efforts to leverage their industrial and energy technologies portfolio which helped boost the second-quarter earnings and adds to ongoing consolidation within the oilfield service and industrial supply sectors.
Chart Industries has offered $210 for each share, which is a 22% premium over the previous close. Chart Industries shares rose 16.2% to $199.50 during premarket trading.
Chart terminated a previous merger agreement with Flowserve after the latter decided to not raise its offer, despite being told that Baker Hughes' bid was "superior".
In premarket trading, shares of Flowserve rose 4.36% to $57.25. The company will receive a breakup fee of $266 million. Calculations show that Chart's shares were valued at $159.98 each by Flowserve’s all-stock offer.
Calculations indicate that the transaction's equity value is approximately $9.44 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed by the middle of 2026.
Chart is a manufacturer of industrial equipment, such as valves for liquid and gas molecule handling and measurement technology.
Baker Hughes expects to realize $325 million annualized in cost synergies by the end of third year.
(source: Reuters)
