General Electric agrees £800m takeover of Wellstream

General Electric first approached Wellstream in September

US conglomerate General Electric (GE) has agreed an £800m takeover of UK oil and gas services company Wellstream.

Wellstream twice rejected GE's overtures of around 750p a share, but has now agreed an offer worth 786p.

The value of the deal includes a special dividend for Wellstream shareholders.

Newcastle-based Wellstream manufactures pipes for the oil and gas sector, and has a big presence in Brazil, where exploration is expanding fast.

It announced in September that it had received several bid approaches.

GE said the value of the deal is a 29.1% premium to Wellstream's share price on the day it announced the takeover interest.