News wire — Baker Hughes will sell 65% of its surface pressure control business to a unit of equipment maker Cactus for $344.5 million, as the oilfield services provider focuses on its core businesses amid volatile oil prices.The companies will form a joint venture to hold the business, they said on Monday, with Baker Hughes retaining a 35% stake after the deal closes.
Baker Hughes has leaned on its portfolio refinement efforts to boost earnings and cash flow durability as the industry grapples with weak spending on oilfield activity.
“For Baker Hughes, we believe this reflects a more muscular approach to the portfolio under new CFO (Ahmed) Moghal,” J.P. Morgan analyst Arun Jayaram said.
Baker has “refined its capital allocation framework to include portfolio optimization, which was a key theme from CFO Moghal,” he added.
The purchase is expected to transform Cactus’ geographic footprint, providing a more diverse and stable revenue profile with 85% of the business’ revenue coming from the Middle East.
The SPC unit designs, manufactures and services specialized wellheads and production tree equipment for international markets.
Shares of both Cactus and Baker Hughes were up nearly 1% in morning trade.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Sriraj Kalluvila – Reuters
