To paraphrase Dickens, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times in the oil patch. Two major mergers in the last six months appear to be headed down very different roads. The ill-fated Baker Hughes/Haliburton merger has now collapsed, whereas the FMC Technologies/Technip merger has just won early approval from U.S. regulatory authorities. These outcomes spell very different paths ahead for the companies involved. It’s been a couple of months now since the much heralded merger of Baker Hughes and Haliburton hit a wall of reality from the Justice Department. The merger arbitrage premium on BHI had been so high for a long time that it was clear the markets were very skeptical about antitrust authorities letting the merger go forward in the first place. Once all parties involved accepted reality though, it did become clear that both Baker Hughes and Haliburton […]