Baker Hughes Deal Resurrects BJ Services Company in Tomball

TOMBALL, TX -- A formerly displaced business leader with roots in the Tomball community is making a comeback as part of a multimillion-dollar deal by local oilfield giant Baker Hughes.

In a deal that was finalized on Dec. 30, Baker Hughes announced it was bringing back the BJ Services brand as a new company based in Tomball, and through a deal with CSL Capital Management and West Street Energy Partners.

According to a Houston Business Journal report, Baker Hughes will retain a 46.7 percent ownership stake in the company, while CSL Capital Management and West Street Energy Partners, a fund managed by the Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division, own the remaining 53.3 percent.

Warren Zemlak, who served as president and CEO of CSL's Allied Energy Services, has been appointed BJ Services' president and CEO.

“We are proud to build upon the BJ legacy," Zemlak said in a release. "I believe our focus on execution, broad expertise and strong capital discipline combined with the second largest cementing and fracturing fleets in North America will result in the new BJ Services being a fierce competitor."

BJ Services and Baker Hughes have had close business ties since 1991.

In 2010, Baker Hughes acquired BJ Services to better compete internationally with Hallibuton and Schlumberger.

In 2012, Baker Hughes announced plans to build the Western Hemisphere Education Center across the street from Baker Hughes’ Tomball facility.

However, the facility, which was designed to train oil field technicians for operations worldwide, and generate significant revenue for the city, never fully took off before the downturn in the oil industry hit the Houston economy hard in early 2015.

But things could change, and that is the what leaders in Tomball are hoping to hear in the next several weeks when they meet with Baker Hughes officials next month.

“This all sounds very promising and very encouraging, like life will come back to that campus,” Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce President Bruce Hillegeist said. “We are excited that they reached out to us and want to share with us what they’re planning to do with that campus.”

The meeting will be held at the Baker Hughes offices in Tomball on Feb. 7.

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