Siemens buys Dresser-Rand
September 22, 2014Siemens would buy Dresser-Rand for $7.6 billion (5.9 billion euros), the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. It said the German engineering company had offered $83 per share in the US oil equipment producer.
Dresser-Rand's board of directors unanimously recommended the offer, with Siemens expecting to close the deal by mid-2015.
The German firm said in a statement the US group's portfolio of compressors, steam and gas turbines and engines would complement its position in the growing global oil, gas and power generation businesses.
Shale gas drive in focus
It added that Siemens' gas extraction capabilities would be expanded through the acquisition, helping the Germans to better capitalize on the US shale gas boom.
Siemens was reported to have beaten out Switzerland-based Sulzer AG which had also been eying a deal with Dresser-Rand. But the latter preferred the Germans' all-cash offer over Sulzer's suggestion of a stock-based merger.
Dresser-Rand is based in Houston, Texas, and Paris, France. It has annual revenue of about $3 billion and currently employs about 8,100 people.
hg/cjc (dpa, AP, Reuters)