To build its oil and gas portfolio in the U.S., Germany-based engineering firm Siemens has agreed to acquire oil services firm Dresser-Rand for $7.6 billion.
According to terms of the deal, which is expected to close by the summer of 2015, Siemens will pay $83 a share in cash, which Bloomberg says is “a premium of about 37% to Dresser-Rand’s share price in July before reports about a potential bid boosted the stock.”
The news outlet says that Siemens has “coveted” Dresser-Rand, a Houston and Paris-based maker of compressors and turbines for the oil and gas sector, “for at least three years.” Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser is supposedly seeking more acquisitions after saying that his company “hadn’t made the most of the boom in shale gas extracted by hydraulic fracturing.”
Kaeser has hailed the acquisition as a perfect synergistic fit for his company.
However, there is still the possibility of a potential rival bid. Not only does the deal need to be approved by Dresser-Rand shareholders but, according to the Financial Times, General Electric “has been in talks with Dresser-Rand and is weighing whether to make an offer.”
Bloomberg notes that the deal gives Siemens an opportunity to trump its former CEO Peter Loescher who is now chairman of Swiss industrial engineering company Sulzer. Last week it was reported that Sulzer had been in “non-exclusive” negotiations with Dresser-Rand to acquire it. But after news of the Siemens/Dresser-Rand deal broke, Sulzer says it ended talks to focus on other M&A opportunities.
Source: Bloomberg: Siemens to Buy Dresser-Rand for $7.6 Billion in Cash