US competition authorities move to block Halliburton's bid for Baker Hughes

US authorities filed a lawsuit to block Halliburton's bid for rival Baker Hughes.

“The proposed deal between Halliburton and Baker Hughes would eliminate vital competition, skew energy markets and harm American consumers,” US Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said in a statement.

"This transaction is unprecedented in the breadth and scope of competitive overlaps and antitrust issues it presents,” Bill Baer, the Assistant Attorney General of the DoJ’s Antitrust Division, added.

“Halliburton and Baker Hughes are two of the three largest integrated oilfield service companies across the globe, and they compete to invent and sell products and services that are critical to energy exploration and production. We need to maintain meaningful competition in this important sector of our economy.”

Halliburton had hired two anti-trust litigators to defend itself in response, reports said.

Anti-trust issues had bogged down the deal since it was first agreed in 2014.

The lawsuit marked the latest move by regulators to block a potential transaction, including that between Staples and Office Depot.

A proposed merger between Anthem and Cigna was also thought to be increasingly vulnerable from anti-trust regulators.

Washington's move also came close on the heels of Pfizer's decision to abandon a bid for Allergan due to the White House's opposition to a deal that might see the largest US drugs firm move to Ireland in order to cut its tax bill.

Shares in Houston-based Halliburton were rising by 4.30% to $35.88 as of 15:21 BST, before the opening bell on Wall Street, and those in rival Baker Hughes by another 4.01% to $40.98.