Baker Hughes (Majority Stake)
2017
$7.4B
Why
GE acquired a majority stake in oilfield services company Baker Hughes in July 2017, merging GE's oil and gas equipment business with Baker Hughes to create Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE). The combination was intended to create a full-stream energy services company spanning upstream drilling through downstream processing, capturing cross-selling opportunities across GE's industrial equipment portfolio and Baker Hughes's well services capabilities. GE believed the merger would create a more resilient business less sensitive to oil price cycles.
Impact
The Baker Hughes combination was complicated by the subsequent collapse in oil prices and the strategic mismatch between GE's industrial equipment orientation and Baker Hughes's services model. GE began reducing its Baker Hughes stake in 2019 under Culp's direction, selling shares progressively as part of the broader capital-raising strategy to address GE's balance sheet challenges. The investment generated significant capital but at declining valuations.
Outcome
GE completed the sale of its remaining Baker Hughes stake in September 2020, fully exiting the oil and gas services business. Baker Hughes continues to operate as an independent company. GE received total proceeds of approximately $7 billion from the divestiture of its Baker Hughes position, contributing to the balance sheet repair that Culp prioritized in his first years as CEO.