Halliburton gives up pursuit of Expro, leaving takeover path open for Umbrellastream

LONDON (AP) _ U.S. oil services company Halliburton Co. gave up its pursuit of Expro International Group PLC on Monday, after the British company stuck by its support for a rival bid and refused to open an auction.

Halliburton revealed it had raised its all-cash offer to 1,625 pence (US$31.91), or 1.82 billion pounds (US$3.6 billion) on Friday, topping the 1,615 pence (US$31.72), or 1.8 billion pound (US$3.5 billion) approach from a private equity consortium led by Candover Group.

Expro has already recommended that shareholders accept that offer from Umbrellastream Ltd., and is holding meetings on Monday and Wednesday for final approval of the deal.

Halliburton's sweetened offer had been dependent on the British oil field contractor delaying those meetings and agreeing to hold a meeting to put both offers to shareholders instead.

However, Expro said that while Halliburton's new offer higher than Umbrellastream's, it did not take into account the delay in payment to shareholders and execution risks.

"Accordingly, the independent committee determined that it was not in the best interests of Expro shareholders to commit Expro to a course of action with Halliburton which ... would have resulted in Expro shareholders ultimately receiving from Halliburton a lower value than the 1,615 pence payable to them under the Umbrellastream offer," Expro said.

Umbrellastream also comprises Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and AlpInvest Partners N.V.,

Halliburton said it was disappointed that Expro was unwilling to cooperate "thereby depriving Expro shareholders of the opportunity to benefit from Halliburton's increased offer and the prospect of any further increases that might subsequently be made."

Houston-based Halliburton added that it reserved the right to make an offer if this week's meeting do not sanction, or delay the sanctioning of the deal by 14 days or more.

The bid battle comes as oil services companies ramp up activity amid soaring energy prices and rising demand, which has caused a flurry of activity in the sector.

Halliburton, which provides services and equipment to oil and natural gas companies, had considered Expro's sub-sea and flow management sector to be an area of potential expansion. Expro's primary focus is providing services and products to measure and control the flow of oil and gas from wells.