Source: Houston Chronicle
Houston oilfield service company Baker Hughes is dropping “a GE Company” from its name and changing its stock ticker symbol.
Baker Hughes made the announcement on Monday after its parent company General Electric closed $3.3 billion in stock sales that reduced its ownership of the oilfield service company to 36.8 percent.
Formally known as Baker Hughes, a GE Company, the oilfield equipment manufacturer and service provider will be renamed as the Baker Hughes Co.
Currently traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock ticker symbol BHGE, the Baker Hughes Co. will trade under the symbol BKR.
Over the past year and a half, Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli has publicly stated multiple times that there will be no changes to the company’s day-to-day operations after General Electric divests its ownership stake. In advance of that divestment, General Electric and Baker Hughes enacted a series of technology-sharing and service agreements.
“Today’s transaction marks an important milestone in our journey, and we have an exciting future ahead built on a strong foundation,” Simonelli said. “We are a differentiated energy technology company and our unique value proposition positions us well with our customers and in the market.”
Created by the July 2017 merger of Baker Hughes and GE Oil & Gas, General Electric is selling off its ownership stake of Baker Hughes in stages to soften multi-billion losses for the Boston industrial conglomerate.
Baker Hughes reported nearly $23 billion of revenue and making a $195 million profit for its stockholders during 2018. The company employs more than 64,000 people in 120 nations.
