Business with regional clients of Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE), will not be affected by the announced split between the two companies, a source working for the company says.

BHGE’s clients are spread across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt and Algeria, among other countries, where the oil field services company delivers its products and works on specific projects.

“It will be ‘business as usual’ with our regional clients," the source says. "Our existing relationship and contracts won’t be affected at all."

US industrial giant General Electric (GE) announced on 26 June its decision to divest its 62.5 per cent stake in Baker Hughes over a period of two to three years as well as sell-off its medical services unit GE Healthcare, in a major business overhaul drive undertaken by group CEO John Flannery.

In November, just four months after GE Oil & Gas completed the acquisition of Houston-based Baker Hughes to position itself as the second-largest oil field services company in the world, Flannery announced the company’s intention to overturn the merger.

The strategy to quit the oil and gas business, he said, was in order to rid GE of its significant debt burden, as well as dissociate itself from a unit that wasn’t a natural fit with GE’s legacy.

“Lorenzo [Simonelli, BHGE CEO] toured the region soon after to explain to customers here [in the region] what the November news meant, and how our business with them will remain the same,” the source says.

“The BHGE team in the region was prepared for this [GE decision] and so the news isn’t quite shocking for us,” the source added.

In an official statement received by MEED, the company said: “BHGE is a strong and differentiated company positioned for growth. GE’s announcement today to fully separate BHGE over the next two to three years provides a defined path for us, and is one we are prepared for. We continue to stay focused on what matters most: supporting our team, delivering for our customers and driving long-term value for our shareholders.”