Activist Ananym Capital sees upside if Baker Hughes spins off oil services

Company: Baker Hughes (BKR)

Business: Baker Hughes is an energy technology company with a portfolio of technologies and services that span the energy and industrial value chain. The company operates in two segments: oilfield services and equipment and industrial and energy technology. The OFSE segment provides products and services for onshore and offshore oilfield operations across the lifecycle of a well, ranging from exploration, appraisal, and development, to production, rejuvenation, and decommissioning. OFSE is organized into four product lines: well construction; completions, intervention and seasurements; production solutions and subsea and surface pressure systems. The IET segment provides technology solutions and services for mechanical-drive, compression and power-generation applications across the energy industry, including oil and gas, liquefied natural gas operations, downstream refining and petrochemical markets, as well as lower carbon solutions to broader energy and industrial sectors.

Stock Market Value: $47.84 billion ($48.48 per share)

Activist: Ananym Capital Management

Ownership: n/a

Average Cost: n/a

Activist Commentary: Ananym Capital Management is a New York-based activist investment firm which launched on Sept. 3, 2024, and is run by Charlie Penner (a former partner at JANA Partners and head of shareholder activism at Engine No. 1) and Alex Silver (a former partner and investment committee member at P2 Capital Partners). Ananym looks for high quality but undervalued companies, regardless of industry. They would prefer to work amicably with their portfolio companies but are willing to resort to a proxy fight as a last resort. According to their most recent 13F filing, they manage $260 million across 10 positions.

What’s happening

On Oct. 21, Ananym Capital announced that they have taken a position in Baker Hughes and are calling on the company to spin out its oilfield services and equipment business, arguing such a step could help push up the stock price by at least 60%.

Behind the scenes

Baker Hughes is a leading provider of energy and industrial technology services. The company was formed through the 2017 merger of legacy Baker Hughes and GE Oil & Gas, combining best-in-class intellectual property shared by GE spinoff assets and the technical expertise from both organizations.

The company operates through two primary segments: industrial and energy technologies and oilfield services and Equipment. The IET unit (55% of projected 2025 revenue and 60% of projected 2025 EBITDA) is a long-cycle industrial and energy business focused on gas technology equipment, including turbines and compressors, and aftermarket services, including new energy applications. The OFSE unit (45%/40%) is a short-cycle oilfield equipment and production services business with an end-to-end portfolio of oilfield services and equipment for well construction and production.

Management has built up a strong track record of effective execution, and that success has been reflected in the share price, with the company delivering strong returns of 28.26%, 75.29% and 232.98% over the past 1-, 3- and 5-year periods, respectively.

Within IET, the company has taken advantage of its leading position in LNG, in which Baker now has 95% global footprint for the turbomachinery required in plant construction, a market that is expected to grow at a 10% compound annual growth rate through 2030.

Additionally, the company has a strong position in power generation, as Baker is one of few original equipment manufacturers supplying smaller-scale turbines and complete behind-the-meter power solutions. These offerings have allowed the company to play a pivotal role in helping to address rapidly growing data center demand, as its data center orders have gone from $0 to $550 million in just two quarters. As such, management is heavily investing in this opportunity — developing larger-scale power systems to support mega-data center deployments.

Furthermore, Baker’s pending acquisition of Chart Industries is expected to further strengthen IET’s position in power, LNG, and industrials. As a result, IET is approaching a 20% EBITDA margin, with further margin expansion expected as the business mix continues to shift toward aftermarket services, which generate long-term recurring revenue streams supported by contracts exceeding 10 years and margins of 35% or more.

For OFSE, management has taken steps to meaningfully improve the segment’s earnings mix and reduce its cyclical commodity exposure. This includes exiting or downsizing non-core ventures and low-margin product lines, such as its surface pressure control joint venture with Cactus; prioritizing the Middle East and international markets (now 75% of OFSE revenue), which are less correlated to commodity prices; and implementing strong pricing discipline and cost cutting measures by enforcing minimum margin thresholds on new contracts, consolidating product lines and simplifying reporting. However, despite these efforts, OFSE remains highly subject to commodity volatility, affecting both the segment’s performance and the company’s overall valuation.

Currently valued at about 9x EBITDA, Baker trades more closely with oilfield services peers (6–7x EBITDA), than its industrial and energy technology peers (16–18x), despite IET being the majority of the company’s revenue and EBITDA. An implied sum-of-the-parts multiple for Baker would put the company at approximately 13x.

It is for this reason that Ananym has launched a campaign at Baker calling for the company to either continue growing IET relative to OFSE or to pursue a sale or spin of OFSE.

Ananym believes that a potential separation could result in an about 51% immediate upside through realizing Baker’s sum of parts valuation, even when assuming $100 million dis-synergies from separation. Moreover, this upside does not reflect much of the potential long-term growth tailwinds and margin expansion expected from these ongoing operational initiatives — value drivers that shareholders should also be better positioned to realize through such a move.

Founded in September 2024, this is Ananym’s third public activist campaign. Knowing Charlie Penner and Alex Silver as we do, we would expect them to strive to work amicably with management to create value for shareholders. As such, they have already expressed full confidence in management to choose the optimal path forward, and the company’s strong operational track record fully supports that confidence.

Moreover, on Oct. 6, the company announced a review of its capital allocation, business, cost structure, and operations.

With all signs pointing towards alignment between the two parties, we do not expect that they will insist on, or even ask for, board representation or continue to engage in much more of a public campaign. Rather, we expect them to work amicably with Baker behind the scenes to unlock meaningful shareholder value. However, this cooperative approach should not be confused for weakness, as they are fiduciaries to their own investors and will do whatever is necessary to create value at their portfolio companies. Thus, should management fail to act decisively, Ananym could quickly shift to a more assertive stance.

Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist investments.