Halliburton Bids for Britain's Expro
Updated from 9:54 a.m. EDT
Oil services giant
Halliburton
(HAL) - Get Report
has bid 1.71 billion British pounds for London-based rival
Expro
.
The all-cash bid is higher than a 1.61 billion British pound offer made in April by a consortium comprising funds managed or advised by Candover Partners.
"The proposal does not amount to a firm intention to make an offer and is subject to certain pre-conditions," Expro said in a company statement.
The offer comes amid soaring prices for crude oil this week. Crude futures
, a new intraday record, Thursday, before finishing lower for the first time in five days.
The
U.S. Oil Fund ETF
(USO) - Get Report
has surged as much as 5.9% this week.
Meanwhile, a number of companies have reported expected hits to their bottom lines due to soaring crude prices. American Airlines parent
AMR Corp.
(AMR)
on Wednesday said it was
and charging new baggage fees to deal with rising oil costs. And on Thursday,
Ford
(F) - Get Report
said it was shifting production away from gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks to more fuel efficient cars to meet consumer tastes, which
the company's prior expectation of returning to profitability in 2009.
Halliburton shares were up fractionally to $48.38 in recent trading after Friday's opening bell.
Rival
Schlumberger
(SLB) - Get Report
was down 1% to $101.49 and
National Oilwell Varco
(NOV) - Get Report
was up fractionally to $82.47.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.