Disappointment reigns at Halliburton and Baker Hughes following the collapse of their merger talk and the filing of a legal challenge by the Department of Justice.
As Bloomberg News reports, Halliburton’s Chief Executive Officer Dave Lesar wanted Baker Hughes Inc. bad. Now his company’s paid $3.5 billion in termination charges to Baker Hughes. But prior to the DOJ’s filing of the lawsuit, Lesar was “absolutely confident” he could complete the deal and offered a 10 percent fee if it wasn’t consummated.
“We are absolutely confident that we’re gonna get this thing done,” said Lesar in a November 2014 conference call.