| Court: | Delaware Court of Chancery |
| Case Number: | 2019-0638-AGB |
| Case Leaders: | Gregory V. Varallo, Jeroen van Kwawegen, Edward G. Timlin |
This is a class action asserting claims for breaches of the fiduciary duty of candor and disclosure violations in connection with the combination of Baker Hughes with GE’s Oil and Gas sub-segment (“GE O&G”) to form Baker Hughes, a General Electric Company (“BHGE”), which closed on July 3, 2017 (the “Transaction”).
On December 17, 2019, BLB&G filed a Verified Consolidated Class Action Complaint (the “Complaint”) in the Delaware Court of Chancery on behalf City of Providence and Tri-State Joint Fund (Plaintiffs”) and similarly situated public stockholders of Baker Hughes Incorporated against General Electric Company, Baker Hughes’s former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Martin Craighead), and Baker Hughes’s former Chief Financial Officer.
Defendants filed motions to dismiss the Complaint and, on July 16, 2020 the Delaware Court of Chancery heard argument on Defendants’ motions. On October 27, 2020 the Court largely denied Mr. Craighead’s motion, sustaining claims against him for allegedly failing to disclose to Baker Hughes stockholders that GE O&G had unaudited financials suggesting that the business was deteriorating rapidly.
BLB&G continues to vigorously prosecute this action. The matter is now in the discovery phase of litigation.