Business News Roundup, Nov. 1
General Electric said Monday that it would combine its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes, looking to increase its scale to battle the effects of a prolonged slump in oil prices that has eaten into results and prompted job cuts across the petroleum sector.
The new company, which GE referred to as the “new” Baker Hughes, would be one of the world’s largest providers of equipment, technology and services to the oil and gas industry.
Oversupply in the oil industry has sapped prices in the past two years, and there is little expectation that prices will rise much more before the end of the year.
[...] expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel could freeze or cut production has helped send prices higher recently.
The deal came after Baker Hughes and Halliburton called off a $35 billion merger in May, following a lengthy regulatory review and a lawsuit by the Justice Department to block the transaction on antitrust grounds.
“This transaction creates an industry leader, one that is ideally positioned to grow in any market,” Jeffrey Immelt, GE’s chairman and CEO, said in a news release.
CenturyLink on Monday agreed to merge with Level 3 Communications in a $25 billion deal that would create one of the largest communications providers for businesses.
The combined company would have about 500,000 route miles of fiber that carry broadband, video and voice that enable corporations to communicate.
Adam Nash, CEO of Wealthfront, a robo-adviser firm, stepped down, returning the top job to Andy Rachleff, one of the Redwood City company’s co-founders, who ran the company from 2011 to 2014 before Nash took over.
Robo-advisers build portfolios for clients, typically using a basket of exchange-traded funds.
Airbnb and New York state are in discussions to settle a lawsuit over the prohibition of advertising of some short-term rentals, according to two people familiar with the matter.
While the city and state agreed not to prosecute Airbnb, officials can still go after apartment dwellers who flout the restrictions in advertising prohibited units on the Internet, including the company’s website.
A mother and a college professor who exposed the Flint, Mich., water crisis are being honored with American Ingenuity Awards.
Smithsonian magazine announced Monday that the winners of prizes for innovations in art, science and culture include Michigan mother LeeAnne Walters and Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech professor she recruited to test the water.
Others include comedian Aziz Ansari; Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos; “space archaeologist” Sarah Parcak, who finds ancient sites using satellites; and Christopher Gray, whose Scholly app matches students to scholarships.
Other honorees include director David Lynch, who is bringing meditation to inner-city schools; and the band OK Go, for a music video shot in zero gravity.