Halliburton seeks EU’s nod to merge

Halliburton Co. sought European Union approval a second time for its planned takeover of Baker Hughes Inc., four months after regulators rejected an earlier filing about the bid to combine the world’s No. 2 and No. 3 providers of oil services.

The European Commission set an initial deadline of Jan. 12 to rule on the transaction that’s been dogged with regulatory delays since it was agreed on last year. The EU could still opt to open an in-depth probe lasting about four months if any remedies fail to allay competition concerns.

Halliburton’s latest request follows the EU’s July 31 rejection of a filing deemed to lack key de- tails about the deal. Halliburton has already pushed back the timeline for closing the merger amid scrutiny from regulators in the U.S. and Australia. An analyst at Jefferies Group LLC this month cut the probability of Halliburton completing the takeover to 67 percent from 85 percent due to antitrust concerns.

Representatives for Houstonbased Halliburton didn’t immediately respond to a call and an email requesting comment.

Halliburton this month sold $7.5 billion of bonds to finance its takeover, shrugging off concerns that regulatory hurdles will derail the deal. In September, it flagged the sale of additional business units in an attempt to satisfy antitrust issues.