Halliburton Company and Baker Hughes Incorporated expect that their timing agreement with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will expire without reaching a settlement or the DOJ initiating litigation at this time to block their pending transaction. The DOJ has informed the companies that it does not believe that the remedies offered to date are sufficient to address the DOJ's concerns, but acknowledged that they would assess further proposals and look forward to continued cooperation from the parties in their continuing investigation.

Halliburton and Baker Hughes believe that the proposed merger is good for the industry and customers. The merger is expected to create a strong company and achieve substantial efficiencies enabling it to compete aggressively to provide efficient, innovative and low-cost services. Completion of the transaction would allow customers to operate more cost-effectively, which is increasingly important due to the current state of the energy industry and oil and gas prices.

Tags: Baker Hughes Incorporated, Halliburton