Baker Hughes received regulatory clearance from the European Commission for its $13.6 billion acquisition of Chart Industries, a critical supplier in the global gas-handling equipment market. The approval came with strict conditions requiring Baker Hughes to divest parts of Chart’s proprietary process technology and to maintain equipment compatibility with third-party LNG providers for ten years.
The Commission’s intervention aimed to prevent Baker Hughes from gaining excessive influence over the liquefied natural gas (LNG) equipment market. By forcing the divestitures and interoperability commitments, regulators sought to preserve competition, ensuring that customers retain flexibility in sourcing LNG technology without being locked into proprietary systems from the merged company.
Baker Hughes announced the takeover offer at $210 per share earlier, valuing Chart Industries at $13.6 billion. Both companies aligned with a regulatory deadline to submit remedies that avoided a lengthy antitrust investigation. Chart contributes substantial revenue and operational scale, with billions in annual sales, dozens of manufacturing sites, and a global network of service centers.
Chart Industries specializes in process technologies and equipment essential to LNG terminals, industrial gas systems, and data center cooling infrastructure. Integrating Chart will expand Baker Hughes’ industrial technology offerings beyond its usual oilfield services, reinforcing its position in emerging energy transition sectors. The acquisition is expected to generate significant annual cost savings within a few years, strengthening Baker Hughes’ competitive stance worldwide.