The European Commission has officially cleared the proposed acquisition of Chart Industries by Baker Hughes, resolving a high-stakes antitrust review under the EU Merger Regulation. Because both US-based companies hold substantial roles in manufacturing and designing equipment for the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, the deal drew intense regulatory scrutiny regarding its potential to reshape the market for cooling and transporting natural gas over long distances.
Initially, the Commission’s investigation raised concerns that a combined entity would hold an unfair competitive edge. Regulators found that Baker Hughes already maintains a dominant position in the global market for LNG compressor trains. The Commission worried that the energy technology giant might leverage this dominance to boost Chart’s business at the expense of rivals, potentially bundling essential equipment, reducing the interoperability of its machinery with third-party products, or utilizing sensitive commercial data from competing projects. Such actions, regulators feared, would ultimately stifle innovation and drive up prices for European customers and competitors alike.
To clear these regulatory hurdles, Baker Hughes and Chart offered a comprehensive package of remedies designed to preserve market competition. Under the approved terms, the companies must divest Chart’s proprietary IPSMR process technology alongside its small-scale process technology business to an independent buyer approved by the Commission. Furthermore, they committed to maintaining strict interoperability between their own machinery and third-party LNG equipment.
These binding commitments will remain in effect for a ten-year period, with an independent trustee appointed to monitor compliance. By requiring the divestment of these core technologies and guaranteeing open infrastructure compatibility, the Commission concluded that the threat of anti-competitive behavior has been neutralized, clearing the way for the transaction to proceed safely under international merger control rules.