GE has approached the oil-field services company Baker Hughes about a takeover. General Electric Co. is in talks to buy Baker Hughes Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, a transaction that would be the biggest in the history of the industrial giant and extend its bet on the battered oil industry. GE has approached the oil-field services company about a takeover, the people said, but details of the talks couldn’t be learned, and the talks could fall apart before an agreement is reached. With a market value of $23 billion, Houston-based Baker Hughes could go for more than $30 billion in a takeover, given the typical premium. GE has a market value of $259 billion. In 2014, Baker Hughes agreed to sell itself to rival Halliburton Co. for $35 billion, or $78.62 per share. Earlier this year, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block the proposed […]

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