Multinational oil field services company Schlumberger on Friday received the okay from the European Union for its takeover of oilfield equipment maker Cameron International of Houston, Texas.
It is the penultimate of several international regulatory hurdles that the deal has had to clear, mainly involving anti-monopoly concerns. Now only China needs to give its approval. The US Department of Justice endorsed it in November 2015. Anti-trust regulators in other countries – including Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Russia – had already given their nods to it. If all goes to plan the deal should be finalized in March.
The merger, estimated to be worth more than $12bn, will be a stock and cash transaction.
In 2013 the two firms teamed up on the joint venture OneSubsea to develop and make products, systems and services for the offshore oil and gas industry.
Cameron shareholders voted to accept the takeover deal in December 2015.
