Source: Bloomberg News | Liam Denning |  October 31, 2016

Baker Hughes, having slipped through Halliburton's fingers, has landed in the arms of General Electric. One company would have preferred the first marriage to go through: Weatherford International Plc.

Two years ago, when Halliburton Co. announced its intentions for Baker Hughes Inc., Weatherford was viewed as a potential side beneficiary. Two things were supposed to happen. First, it was pretty clear Halliburton and Baker Hughes would be forced to divest assets to appease competition regulators. Second, their combination would have taken the oilfield services industry's big three -- including Schlumberger Ltd. -- to a big two.

So, the thinking went, Weatherford could pick up some new business lines dropped from Halliburton-Baker and then use them to service E&P clients, who would be throwing the company more business anyway just to preserve competitive pressure in contract bids.

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