Baker Hughes, BJ Still Awaiting Antitrust Approval from DOJ

Baker Hughes and BJ Services announced have received all the necessary approvals from foreign jurisdictions required to close the BJ Services merger, they have not to date received the required approval from the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ has raised issues with regard to the overlap between the stimulation/sand control businesses of Baker Hughes and BJ Services in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Both companies have mailed a joint proxy statement/prospectus to their stockholders for meetings to be held on March 19, 2010 for purposes of approving the merger.

However, while the parties are working in good faith on a resolution of these issues so that the merger can close, there is a significant likelihood that all matters will not be finalized prior to the March 19th meetings of stockholders.

If the issues are not resolved by March 19th, Baker Hughes and BJ Services expect to convene and then immediately adjourn the stockholder meetings to a later date. We will disclose the final resolution with the DOJ prior to the meeting date.

The companies do not expect any resolution to be material to the business or financial performance of the combined company following the merger and expect that the closing will occur shortly after the stockholder meetings and before the end of March, subject to the satisfaction of other closing conditions.