By Tanay Dhumal and David French
(Reuters) -Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said on Tuesday it would buy Chart Industries in a $13.6 billion all-cash deal, including debt, topping a previously-agreed merger offer that Chart struck with rival Flowserve last month.
The deal will give Baker Hughes greater exposure to industrial technology servicing liquefied natural gas and data centers, at a time when American energy exports and digital infrastructure growth are garnering huge interest from companies and investors.
It forms part of Baker Hughes’ efforts to leverage its industrial and energy technology portfolio, which helped boost second-quarter earnings, and continues a rebalancing of its business away from its traditional oilfield services focus.
“The deal could check some notable strategic boxes for Baker, including increased industry diversification, higher aftermarket services revenue, and margin accretion,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Keith Mackey.
Baker will pay Chart shareholders $210 per share, representing a 22% premium to the previous close, according to a statement which said the deal is expected to close by mid-year 2026. This values Chart’s equity at around $9.44 billion, per Reuters calculations.
Chart jumped 15.8% to close at $198.80, while Baker fell 1.7%.
“The acquisition expands our offerings in core customer sectors while broadening our exposure to high-growth markets and strategic industrial segments like metals and mining,” Baker Hughes CFO Ahmed Moghal said on a conference call.
The Baker unsolicited offer follows Chart’s June 4 agreement to merge with flow control systems maker Flowserve. Having been made aware of the Baker proposal and it being deemed “superior” by Chart’s board, Flowserve decided not to submit a revised offer, the Dallas-based company said in a separate statement.
By going with Baker, Chart’s management secured both a higher effective price versus the Flowserve tie-up – which valued the company at around $160 per share – and also brought forward gains which Chart shareholders would have only gotten following the integration of Flowserve, a source familiar with the matter said.
Shares of Flowserve, which will receive a $266 million breakup fee, closed up 2.4%.
Chart manufactures industrial equipment such as valves and measurement technology for gas and liquid molecule handling and operates 65 manufacturing locations with over 50 service centers globally.
Baker Hughes said $325 million in annualized cost synergies were expected to be realized at the end of the third year, with half from lower selling, general and administrative expenses.
Goldman Sachs, Centerview Partners, and Morgan Stanley were Baker’s financial advisers, with Wells Fargo advising Chart.
(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru and David French in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Nia Williams)
